Reston Association board plans mid-level upgrades for Shadowood pool

Reston’s Shadowood pool, which will be closed this season, is slated for mid-level upgrades.

Reston Association’s Board of Directors selected a plan to bring the ailing pool out of the shadows.

Of the three proposals under consideration — less costly repairs, a mid-price refurbishment plan, and full-scale renovations — the board chose the mid-tier plan, which is expected to cost between $750,000 and $1 million.

Repairs to the facility’s roof and re-plastering of the main pool are planned. The project will also reconfigure the pool to have lap lanes, relocate an existing transformer, change the security fence, and add a route from the parking lot to the pool house.

RA expects the plan to require between four to five months to clear its approval process.

The pool will be closed this year — leaving the neighboring community without a go-to pool for a third consecutive year.

RA’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee asked the association to consider larger-scale renovations than those originally under consideration in January, said RA President Caren Anton.

The most basic option would have required between $300,000 to $500,000 of “strictly maintenance items,” RA Capital Projects Director Chris Schumaker relayed at a March 24 meeting.

The full-scale renovation would have included a complete building overhaul, including a conversion of a wading pool into a splash pad and a reconfiguration of the pool deck. This option would have cost up to cost around $2.5 million.

Board member Sarah Selvaraj-D’souza said the board’s decision should be guided by balancing the needs of the community and selecting a plan that addresses members’ “must-haves.”

“When we go for the full renovation, there are complications even regarding traffic patterns and parking and the community was loud when they said they wanted this pool open as soon as possible,” Selvaraj-D’souza said, adding that the community has already “lost” three seasons of the pool.

The pool is expected to open for the 2023 season, barring any permitting or project delays.

The discussion follows a long-anticipated evaluation of RA’s recreational facilities. The study by the Recreational Facility Work Group found a major increase in funding is needed to address capital improvement work at decades-old facilities.