A team of workers wasted little time temporarily covering the Grand Marais swimming pool roof. The pool lost all of its shingles and insulation in the big windstorm on Oct. 27. The pool will be closed until the roof is repaired.
The day after a powerful windstorm ripped the roof off the municipal swimming pool, Grand Marais City Administrator Mike Roth said it may be a while until the facility is reopened.
Speaking to city councilors Oct. 27, Roth described the damage that occurred just after 2 a.m. He said the roof was completely torn off and water was leaking into the building. The tongue-and-groove ceiling was badly damaged as well, as were the layers of protective Styrofoam panels, chipboard and rubber roofing. “When you go in and look up, you can see daylight. I’m not sure if any of it is salvageable,” Roth said.
Roth said water was leaking into the building in several places—dripping into the walls, the light fixtures and cash register. As a result, the pool will be closed for an indefinite time while insurance adjusters and contractors come up with a plan to repair the building.
An adjuster had already been in town to look at the extent of the damage, but Roth said the company may want to send its large-claims adjuster for another look.
Tim Mackey’s boat gets a lift from Edwin E. Thoreson, Inc.’s crane. The boat was beached last week in the big windstorm. Bertil Lindquist’s sailboat was also run aground in the same storm and was also heavily damaged.
“What exactly do we want to fix?” Roth asked, noting the city has a $10,000 deductible, but the repair job will almost certainly be “a heck of a lot more than that.” Roth said it seems clear to him that the city will be covered and won’t have to pay more than $10,000, but if the repairs cost a significant amount more than that, the city’s long-term rate will be negatively affected. The city currently pays $60,000 per year for its liability insurance, and has never had to deal with a claim of this magnitude before, said Roth.
“Maybe it’s time we ask ourselves, ‘Is this the end of the pool?’” Councilor Kay Costello said.
Roth said he didn’t believe it was. Efforts were already under way to mitigate further damage to the 30-year-old building. Along with that and cleaning up the debris, though, he conceded there are no other certainties in the process. But, Roth added, “I’m assuming it will be fixed.”
Toward that end, local contractors were called almost immediately to cover the roof with tarp. But until the wind stops, said Roth, “it’s too dangerous to be up there.”
Roth said the process is likely to take longer than first anticipated, as the insurance company will probably send several adjusters to inspect the building and make estimates, and may want to use its own contractors to do the work. Until all that happens, the pool will remain closed.
There was some other bad news for the pool as well. Councilors learned that the back-up boiler had broken down earlier in the week, leaving only the back-up to the back-up available to heat the pool water. However, said Roth, the second back-up boiler is not really functional. Council voted at its previous meeting not to spend between $15,000 and $20,000 to replace the pool’s primary boiler, partly because it was believed the two back-up units could handle the job, and partly because it is presumed the building will be vacated within two years when a new community center and pool are built near the school campus. Repair of the main boiler is estimated at $5,000.
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