New Boys and Girls Club Pool Opens

Hoboken summer campers Tuesday broke in the new and improved Boys and Girls Club pool, which opened for the summer two weeks later than anticipated, but still within the city's projected "before the end of July" deadline.

Health and Human Services director Leo Pellegrini said issues related to replacing the old pool, which sustained significant damage during Superstorm Sandy, contributed to the delayed opening.

Namely, the city hadn't realized how seriously the pool had been damaged until its structure buckled upon being filled in preparation for the summer season, Pellegrini said. As a result, the city purchased a new — and slightly wider — pool to replace the damaged one, which in turn necessitated the construction of a new deck to accommodate the larger pool.

Environmental services workers constructed the new deck after outside bids came in over threshold, but were themselves delayed by the recent heat wave that produced dangerous working conditions, Pellegrini said.

The director said he expects the city to be reimbursed in full — or very close to it — for the approximately $20,000 it cost to get the pool up and running for the summer.

Mayoral candidate Ruben Ramos criticized the city's handling of the pool's opening in a statement released in the midst of a mid-July heat wave.

“Heat indices have been in the hundreds all week, but this pool is still not open for anyone to use," Ramos said in the statement, released July 18. "Some of our residents are in life-threatening danger from this heat and the city can’t even fill up a pool for our kids.”

Although a June 27 city release announcing the pool's opening stated only that it was "expected to open in July," Fourth Ward Councilman Tim Occhipinti said Pellegrini told him privately that the pool would open by July 8. Pellegrini said Wednesday that the pool was scheduled to open July 15.

Anticipated opening dates aside, the Boys and Girls Club pool is currently welcoming guests Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is free to the public and can accommodate between 25 and 30 people at a time.

Adults who wish to swim at the pool — which is primarily intended for use by children and teens — won't be turned away, but are encouraged to use the larger Hoboken High School swimming pool — which opened on July 8 — or purchase a paid membership to swim at the Secaucus municipal pool.