Swimmers will have to wait another year before dipping their toes into Morton Grove’s new Harrer Pool.
Work on the reconstruction of the aquatic center at 6250 W. Dempster St. will not be complete for even a brief opening this summer, said Morton Grove Park District Executive Director Jeffrey Wait.
“They are not going to make it this summer,” he said of construction crews. “It’s probably going to be late September before they are completed. All of that stems from the delay in receiving state permits.”
The park district had initially targeted Memorial Day weekend for the pool’s opening, but earlier this year Wait expressed hope that it could open for at least a part of the summer.
Now, swimmers will need to wait until 2022.
Wait said understaffing and state office closures due to the pandemic likely delayed approval of permits that were required from the Illinois Department of Public Health before most of the construction of the new aquatic center could begin.
The park district began planning for the pool immediately after the March 2020 passage of a referendum supporting the project, Wait said, but permit approvals that should have occurred by October or November were delayed until January.
“As much as we are disappointed, we understand most of this, if not all of this, was completely out of our hands,” Wait said.
A video showing the progress of the pool was shared by the park district on May 27. It can be viewed on the park district’s YouTube page.
The Harrer Pool reconstruction will include a new six-lane, 50-meter lap pool, a “plunge pool” with two waterslides, a diving pool, a wading pool for small children with splash features, a 6,370-square-foot bathhouse, a concessions area and private cabanas available to rent.
The original Harrer Pool, which was built in 1962 and renovated in 1995, closed in 2019.
The Morton Grove Park District’s Oriole Pool will be open beginning June 5.
Due to capacity restrictions under the Bridge Phase of the state’s Restore Illinois Plan, everyone planning to use the pool must make a reservation at least one day before coming to the pool and no walk-ins will be allowed, the park district said.
Reservations are for 2-hour slots.
A full list of rules can be found at mortongroveparks.com/parks-facilities/pools/.
