Structural issues uncovered during a renovation of Portland’s Riverton pool have caused delays to the yearslong project, now unlikely to be completed until next summer, with the extended closure causing a crunch for space at the Reiche pool — the only city-run aquatics facility currently open.
Original estimates for the project placed the cost at about $2.3 million, but as issues mounted, the budget has grown to about $2.9 million. The pool at the Riverton Community Center closed in September 2023 and was originally supposed to reopen this summer.
“It’s been a difficult project,” said Ethan Hipple, the city’s director of Parks, Recreation & Facilities. “Some projects we take on go smoothly and easily and finish on time and on budget, but this one has been much more difficult. … It’s a little bit like an onion, we peel back the layers and just find more problems and challenges as we dig into it.”
The Riverton project initially intended to build a new wall between the pump room and the deep end of the pool. That work, Hipple said, “went relatively quickly, under a year.”
But as construction progressed, a series of unexpected issues emerged as project leaders began to discover that the pool, built in the 1970s, needed additional work to meet modern code requirements.
For one, the grade of the slope between the shallow and deep ends of the pool had to be adjusted. The pool originally had a 12-foot-deep section, but to comply with current rules, the city has had to reduce the depth of that section to 9 feet.
The gutter system and deck floor drains also had to be rebuilt — the latter requiring workers to jackhammer the entire deck.
Hipple noted that the complex engineering and architecture planning involved also tends to cause delays to these kinds of undertakings.
Hipple said the City Council has been supportive of the project and was able to move the additional funds to the project funds to the project when it became clear more work was needed to get the pool up to code.
But even with that support, the timetable for reopening the pool has been pushed back to summer 2026. Hipple called that “a general window” and said the city doesn’t yet have a concrete reopening date.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
With the Riverton pool out of commission, the city’s aquatic programming has shifted to the pool at the Reiche Community Center — the only city-operated pool currently open year-round. Now, all lap swimming, swim lessons and adaptive programming have just one spot to be held, causing challenges.
“Aquatics programming is a big part of the recreation division. We’ve had to double up on programming at Reiche, which is now busy from dawn to the evening,” Hipple said. “We really need to get Riverton back.”
The broader impact is a concern for local swimming advocates.
“That Riverton pool reopening is essential for us,” said Brooke Teller, founder of Maine Community Swimming.
One of the group’s missions is to get every second grader in the city enrolled in swim lessons. Even with the Reiche pool open, Teller said it’s impossible right now to get as many kids into lessons she’d like.
Teller emphasized that there is a safety component to learning to swim, especially in a state surrounded by lakes, streams and coastlines.
The city’s outdoor public pool, the Kiwanis pool, is undergoing its own overhaul and is expected to reopen next summer under a new name.
The Kiwanis project is ambitious: It is set to include a lap pool, a leisure pool with a waterslide, a splash pad, family changing rooms and upgraded accessibility. Initial design work estimated that project would cost around $6.5 million; after the city went through the bid process, the estimate rose to nearly $11.5 million, leaving a roughly $5 million funding gap.
Hipple said the Riverton pool remains a priority for the city, with high-level staff dedicated to it.
“It’s not that we’re ignoring it. It’s a challenging project,” he said. “It’s been really hard for the community and for my staff who run that facility and love providing the programming that we offer there.”
Even as the project moves closer to completion, advocates say the hurdles that came with the Riverton project reflect a broader challenge in Maine: aging aquatic infrastructure, increasing regulatory standards and rising construction costs. Teller worries Reiche and other pools in the area may soon require similar updates.
For now, swimmers, coaches and community members must continue to rely on the Reiche pool — and await the reopenings of both the Riverton facility and the renamed Kiwanis pool.
“I don’t love the timeline, but it is what it is, and we’re trying to make the best of it,” Hipple said.