By Michael Coughlin Jr.
Residents of Charlestown might be able to spend their Fourth of July next year poolside at the new and improved Clougherty Pool, which is set for demolition this summer and subsequent construction. During community meetings over the past few months, it has been projected that the new pool will be opened in the summer of 2024, followed by the opening of the renovated bathhouse in the summer of 2025.
However, during the latest community meeting on Tuesday, Kerrie Griffin, Director of the Public Facilities Department, expanded on the summer of 2024 projection. “Right now, we are hoping that you will be in here celebrating the Fourth of July next year in the pool area,” said Griffin. “That’s our goal — to turn it over so that you have, you know, July 1st on for the pool,” she added. The project, which began at the end of last summer with a study, has been fast-tracked, according to Niall Murphy, a Project Manager with the Public Facilities Department. This fast-tracking trimmed the design process from what would normally be 12 to 18 months to about seven. As far as updates on the project go, last month, Northern Contracting Corporation was awarded a contract for the first phase of the project — the demolition. “Northern started mobilizing on site this week, and demolition construction is slated to last until October,” said Murphy. While the bidding and subsequent award of a contract for the demolition portion of the project have been taken care of, there seems to be a bit of a snag in the bidding process for the project’s second phase — the pool and pool deck reconstruction and bathhouse renovation. The bidding process for the second phase began in May, and the plan is to have contracts awarded by September. However, according to Murphy, there has been a delay of about three to four weeks in the bidding schedule. “Because this package is over $10,000,000, we’re statutorily required by the state to go through what is called a Chapter 149 Pre-Qualification Process where we pre-qualify general contractors and subcontractors to ensure that they’re qualified to bid on a project like this — this process typically takes three to four months to complete,” said Murphy. “During our first round of advertising for statements of qualifications in June, we did not receive enough submissions for eight different filed sub-bid trade categories. By law, we have to receive at least three submissions to move forward in the process,” he added. Due to this, re-advertisement for those categories occurred last month, and the second round of statements of qualifications for the categories is slated to come in at the end of this week. Per Murphy, even if there are not enough submissions again, they will not have to re-advertise for qualifications again, so the bidding schedule should not be impacted further. In her statements regarding the schedule of the pool opening, Griffin did not seem to think the aforementioned snag would be a big problem. “I don’t think it’s anything we cannot mitigate or recover from,” she said. As this project rolls on, Griffin emphasized that it is a transparent process and everyone involved is trying to get in front of anything that might delay it. “We’re actively looking at this right now to make sure that anything that is going to be problematic for that date that we’re in front of it,” said Griffin. She also said, “This is a very transparent process. If we’re concerned, we’re going to let you know that we’re concerned, but right now, I’m saying we can get this done for the July holiday.” In addition to specifics about the pool’s opening date, logistics of the imminent demolition were also discussed during Tuesday’s meeting. Some aspects to note include that the basketball courts at the site will be lost as they will be used as the main construction laydown area. However, they will be replaced at the end of the project. Also, tree protection, dust, pest, rodent control measures, and vibration monitoring will be employed. Moreover, in terms of transportation, around eight to nine parking spots along St. Martin Street will be lost during construction. According to Murphy, the contractor has estimated about 100 to 150 truckloads to remove all of the concrete and material during demolition, so it will be an active site, and a police detail will be requested daily during demolition. Finally, updated renderings and design details for the site, the pool deck, and the bathhouse were also shown during the meeting. Some highlights of the bathhouse include a community room on the second level along with a concessions area. As for some highlights about the site, accessibility was noted, including a new accessible route into the site, among other features. Further, concerning the pool deck, design plans showcased the color scheme, seating layouts, and much more. To view all of the plans and renderings for the upcoming Clougherty Pool and to learn more about the demolition, you can visit https://www.boston.gov/departments/boston-centers-youth-families/bcyf-clougherty-pool, which is slated to have the recording and presentation from the latest meeting. “I think this is going to be a fantastic project; we’re really excited about it,” said Griffin.