Reston Association’s pool season has officially kicked off, although the opening date of Lake Thoreau pool is not yet known for this season.

The complete pool schedule — which is divided into five seasons — is available online.

RA says it has hired 85% of its lifeguard staff, overcoming labor shortages that often plague these positions. Last year, two pools were temporarily closed when staff members contracted COVID-19, but staffing was generally not an issue.

“Seasons four and five toward the end of the summer continue to be the most challenging for aquatics staff recruitment and retention as students return to school and start fall activities,” RA spokesperson Mike Leone said. “We continue to recruit lifeguards.”

North Shore’s heated pool and spa and Ridge Heights heated pool opened first on May 13. RA is actively hiring for more lifeguards online.

It’s still unclear if and when Lake Thoreau Pool, which is undergoing major renovations, will open this year.

Leone said the decision will depend on the timing of the project’s completion and approval from RA’s Board of Directors.

“At this point, the pool is close to 70% completed and we anticipate an early September completion,” he said.

The massive renovation of Lake Thoreau’s pool is likely to be completed by late August or early September.

Reston Association spokesperson Mike Leone told FFXnow that the renovation is on track to finish later in the summer. If it’s completed by early September, RA’s Board of Directors will determine if the pool will reopen this year, since only a few weeks would remain in the pool season.

“It is a timing issue,” Leone wrote in a statement.

So far, the project is roughly 65% complete, according to a recent Reston Today video, which is produced by RA.

The new, roughly $3.5 million facility will include a pool with six lap lanes, a ramp to provide ADA access, a redesigned deck, a larger 25-space parking lot, an overlook with a pollinator garden, and expanded bathhouses, which have been moved away from the spa.

The pool has been closed since 2020 and was scheduled to break ground two falls ago. In the latest update to the RA board, staff reported that the pool was roughly one month behind schedule.

Chris Schumaker, RA’s capital projects director, said work on ADA-compliant areas is underway. An ADA ramp will lead to the main area, and the future elevated deck will extend from the edge of the pool and overlook the lake area.

Schumaker also said an issue with the retaining wall prompted a relocation of the new spa — a move that allowed the area to become ADA-accessible and cover a larger footprint.

“Due to retaining wall issues on the site, we had to relocate the spa,” Schumaker said.

The bathhouse has also been fully gutted, leading towards the 400-square-foot addition’s completion. It will also include a family bathroom.

In the fifth and last phase of RA’s pool season, only three pools are open from Sept. 5 through Sept. 24.

The renovation of Lake Thoreau Pool is roughly one month behind schedule, according to Reston Association staff.

At an RA meeting on March 23, capital projects coordinator Chris Schumaker said the delay is approximate due to unforeseen conditions.

“We are forecasting four-week delay due to site conditions,” Schumaker said.

So far, the project is roughly 50% complete. The pool base, retaining walls, propane tank and concrete structural supports have been completed.

Construction on the structural steel component of the deck, the storm drain, and parking is in progress.
Schumaker also said the addition to the bathhouse is on hold due to a problem with a sanitary sewer connection in the area.

Despite the unforseen delay, Schumaker said the pool’s reopening is still slated for sometime in the summer.

“We still hope to have an opening sometime in the last summer of this year,” he said.

Lake Thoreau’s pool has been closed since 2020 for the renovation project, which was originally scheduled to break ground two falls ago.

The new facility will include a pool with six lap lanes, a ramp to provide ADA access, a redesigned deck, a larger 25-space parking lot, an overlook with a pollinator garden, and expanded bathhouses, which have been moved away from the spa.

The project is expected to cost roughly $3.5 million.

A substantial renovation to Reston’s Lake Thoreau pool is 25% complete, putting the multi-million dollar project on track for opening by the 2023 pool season.

Demolition, regrading and structural support for the elevated deck are officially complete, according to Chris Schumaker, Reston Association’s capital projects director. At a Dec. 15 board meeting, Schumaker said the planned addition to the bathhouse will begin shortly after the New Year.

“We’re currently holding on schedule and anticipate opening sometime during the 2023 pool season,” he said.

Fine grading, structural steel work and concrete work is in progress for the pool basin, he told the board.

The project could see delays due to weather impacts — but currently no delays are anticipated.

On-site work at 2040 Upper Lake Drive began over the summer. The facility has been closed since 2020 for the renovation project, which was first set to break ground in the fall of 2021.

The renovated facility will include six lap lanes and a ramp to provide ADA access, a redesigned deck, a larger 25-space parking lot, an overlook with a pollinated garden, and expanded bathhouses.

The project is expected to cost roughly $3.5 million.

The Mount Vernon RECenter is closing at the end of the month for a two-year, $74 million renovation project.

The nearly four-decade-old recreation center right off Belle View Blvd is set to close at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31 to allow for a massive expansion and renovation.

The plan is to add about 75,000 square feet to the rec center, which is set to include a two-story fitness center, building upgrades, an indoor track, a remodeled pool, and a second “NHL-sized” ice rink. The project is expected to take two years, with a reopening scheduled for the early part of 2025.

The Fairfax County Park Authority’s board officially approved the upgrades to its “oldest and most popular” facility back in March.

The recreation center, which opened in 1974, has had a myriad of problems in recent years, requiring workarounds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in short-term fixes. That includes renting ice chillers and dehumidification systems as well as fixing a failing roof.

While closing the entire facility for two years was a “tough” decision, it was the best option of several the county considered, FCPA director Jai Cole said in a press release:

The decision to close the entire facility for two years was a tough one; but it is the best option when it comes to delivering the most desirable outcome and limiting the impact of the closure on our customers. We have worked very hard to create a schedule that has enabled the facility to remain open for as long as possible prior to construction and to condense the closure period as much. While we understand that the temporary closing is challenging, we very much look forward to delivering a top-notch, state-of-the-art facility that will serve this community well into the future.

The total project is set to cost just over $74.4 million, an 83% increase over the proposed 2021 budget. Last year, county officials set the budget at $40.7 million, but it became clear that number was unrealistic.

According to a May 2022 presentation, bids came in much higher due to supply chain delays, building infrastructure challenges, and “complex construction phasing with market uncertainty.”

Even in the six months since then, the budget has risen again by another $7 million.

“The total project budget is $74,431,381 — an increase of $33.73 million over the original 2021 budget,” FCPA spokesperson Ben Boxer wrote FFXnow in an email. “The cost increase has been driven by ongoing supply chain challenges and inflation. The cost increase is consistent with construction cost increases across the board on all projects.”

The 24-month closing of the facility is also expected to cost the county $1.3 million in revenue.

The additional money needed for the project will come from a reallocation of other bond funds that had been marked for other projects as well as $25 million from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that was provided to the county, per Boxer.

Residents who have countywide rec center memberships will be able to use it to access the county’s eight other eight centers. The George Washington Rec Center near Mount Vernon High School will expand its hours on Jan. 2, 2023 to accommodate the closure of the Mount Vernon center.

Upgrades to Glade Pool (11550 Glade Drive) officially begin today.

Planned improvements include partially replacing the concrete deck, repairing the spa jet and chipping out the main pool for tiling and coping.

In a statement, Reston Association Director of Communications and Marketing Mike Leone said that the work should wrap up by May 1 — just in time for the 2023 summer pool season.

“Nothing is changing physically at this pool. RA is doing repair work to the Glade Pool like the work done at Ridge Heights pool earlier this year,” Leone wrote.

Work will only be conduced on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Leone added that noise levels may be “moderate to loud” during the chip-out phase and will lower once the work is completed.

RA is currently working on a large-scale renovation of Lake Thoreau’s aquatics facility. A project for Shadowood Pool is in the design phase. Final conceptual and construction documents are being preparing by engineers, according to RA’s website.

Construction for the Glade Pool refurbishments, including partial concrete deck replacement, spa jet repairs, and main pool chip out/tile/coping, will begin on December 19. Work will continue for the following two to three months. pic.twitter.com/QjTXpt1ZsU

— Reston Association (@RestonOnline) December 14, 2022

A Vienna dive shop has been subsumed into Diventures, a swimming and scuba franchise from Nebraska that hopes to build a new aquatics facility to serve the D.C. area.

The company announced yesterday (Wednesday) that it has expanded into Virginia with the acquisition of the local scuba shop Nautilus Aquatics, which has two locations in Vienna (510 Mill Street NE) and Sterling (1007A Ruitan Circle).

“We are excited to expand into Virginia and bring the Diventures experience to the northern Virginia and metro Washington, D.C. area, as well as bringing their unique experiences to our other 15 locations across the U.S.,” Diventures founder and owner Dean Hollis said in the press release.

In addition to operating the two stores, Diventures says it is actively looking for land in Northern Virginia and the D.C. area to build a 8,000-square-foot swim and scuba center.

The facility would have an indoor, heated pool with a depth of up to 12 feet, a retail store, classrooms, a “diamond-level” scuba service center, a swim program, and a concierge travel center where patrons can book U.S. and international diving trips, according to the press release.

Diventures Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Rebecca Van Gundy confirmed that an exact location for the center hasn’t been identified.

“We have not purchased land yet and are currently looking for that,” she told FFXnow, noting that the site would need to be at least 1.6 acres in size.

Nautilus sells scuba gear and offers dive certifications, summer camps and other diving-related services. The company formed in 2015 out of a merger between Sterling Silver Scuba and Adventures Scuba Company, which started in Chantilly in 1978 before relocating to Vienna.

Nautilus founders Jason Davis and Melissa Miles purchased the Sterling shop in 2008 and Adventures Scuba in Vienna in 2015. In 2016, they bought the assets to The Dive Shop in Merrifield, which was the oldest dive shop in the D.C. area when it closed in 2015.

Diventures leaders said acquiring Nautilus will help the company expand its family programming while introducing a “safety-focused swim program, travel calendar and state-of-the-art aquatics training facilities to Northern Virginia.”

“Melissa and I are excited for the future and the opportunity to continue to support the scuba community through innovation, education and, as always, a customer-first focus,” Davis said. “We cannot thank our customers and team of top-notch dive professionals enough for bringing Nautilus Aquatics to where it is today.”

The acquisition is official, but Diventures will initially co-brand with Nautilus “to maintain that ‘local dive shop’ feel and familiarity with customers,” Van Gundy said by email.

In the long term, the company plans to retain the “Nautilus” name for a scuba club that will be offered at the stores.

The Lake Thoreau pool in Reston has been reduced to a dirt ditch at the corner of Sunrise Valley and Upper Lake drives, paving the way for a full renovation of the facility.

On-site work at 2040 Upper Lake Drive began over the summer. The pool has now been completely demolished, including the pool shell and concrete deck, according to the latest update from Reston Association.

“The spa is completely gone from here, and the wading pool is gone from up top. All that material has been brought off site, and now, we’re on the recreating process,” RA Capital Projects Manager Austin Mayhugh said in the video posted last Friday (Sept. 30).

Now, the crew from contractor Hubert Construction is preparing to install caissons to serve as the foundation for the pool’s new wooden deck, which will overlook Lake Thoreau, Mayhugh said.

Other construction activities on the horizon include laying a new stormwater pipe that will go under the parking lot, followed by pouring for new retaining walls around the site.

Going forward, the contractors will generally be working from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to Mayhugh. RA still estimates that construction will take about a year, projecting a potential opening in summer 2023.

“In the next coming months, we anticipate machinery still coming through the site, which will make noise,” Mayhugh said. “We appreciate your patience, and we can’t wait to see this wonderful new facility open up this summer.”

Lake Thoreau’s pool has been closed since 2020 for the renovation project, which was originally scheduled to break ground last fall.

The new facility will have a pool with six lap lanes and a ramp to provide ADA access, a redesigned deck, a larger 25-space parking lot, an overlook with a pollinator garden, and expanded bathhouses, which have been moved away from the spa.

According to RA, the overall project carries an estimated cost of $3.5 million, which hasn’t changed despite inflation and supply challenges affecting the construction industry in recent months.

“It is possible that at some future date that could change due to inflation or other factors, but at the present time, that is not the case,” RA spokesperson Mike Leone told FFXnow.

Learning to swim over the summer is a skill that is coming into shape for 50 rising Terraset Elementary School students. 

The Summer School & Pool program is the product of a partnership between the school and Reston Association. It uses funds from Friends of Reston, an organization that performs educational and charitable projects in concert with RA.

Students in the program walk to Ridge Heights pool together on Tuesday and Thursdays to navigate new waters. For most of the students, swimming is a new activity.

Students are placed into groups and rotate between stations throughout each session through a variety of lessons, practice and free swimming. 

They’re under the guidance of Terraset ES math resource teacher Suzanne White, who told FFXnow that she saw a need in the community that inspired her to push for the partnership.

“I found a generous group in Friends of Reston who took a chance on it with funding. To say it’s been the highlight of these kids’ summer is not an exaggeration,” White said.

Volunteers from the community are also on site to help with the classes.

Staff for Reston Association were not immediately available for comment.

COVID-19 is having a ripple effect on Reston Association’s pools.

Two of the organization’s pools are closed until Wednesday (July 27) after too many lifeguards caught COVID-19.

The Ridge Heights and Upland community pools are closed after an undisclosed number of aquatics staff tested positive, according to RA spokesperson Mike Leone.

RA follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for exposure to COVID-19 and reentry following a positive test.

Leone told FFXnow that the two pools were selected because several pools are available in the same area.

“With the hot weather this weekend, we want our pool patrons to have access to as many pool options as possible,” he told FFXnow, noting that 11 pools are still open for use across all of RA’s four districts.

Aside from the pandemic, RA appears to have steered clear of the national lifeguard shortage. According to the American Lifeguard Association, the shortage is affecting about a third of public pools across the country, and the impact could dip into next year.