Business & Tech

Montgomery County Council Approves $710,000 to Repaint Ceiling of Germantown Indoor Swim Center

"Whether it was the county's error or the contractor's error it was an expensive error, and now we've got to pay for it." - Councilman George Leventhal

The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday approved a $710,000 request to repaint the ceiling of the .

The state-of-the-art facility would be closed from May through September, while the work is completed. The timing would coincide with the start of swim season in the fall, officials said.

The county council's 6-0  vote came shortly after a public hearing Tuesday afternoon. Council members Roger Berliner, Marc Erlich and Nancy Floreen were absent.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Bonds would be used to pay for the project.

Department of Recreation Director Gabriel I. Albornoz said paint chips have been falling off the galvanized steel ceiling and into the pool because the wrong type of paint was used. Chlorine from the water in the pool caused a chemical reaction, which then caused the paint to "bubble" and slowly chip away.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"It's really bad over in this area," said Larry Moel, recreation specialist at Germantown Indoor Swim Center.

He pointed toward the recreational pool area. Flashes of exposed gray metal were visible across the ceiling. Scabs of paint could be seen at the base of the pool, where swimmers were taking laps. 

Moel said lifeguards and staff took turns cleaning up the paint chips.

As the problem of the chipping paint worsened, a dispute emerged over who was at fault. Delta Painting, a subcontractor of Forrester Construction Company, sued the county. Several months ago, the two reached a settlement of $450,000. New estimates to fix the peeling paint came in at a little over a million dollars — more than the settlement money will cover, Albornoz said.

"This is really aggravating that we have to pay this $710,000," councilman George Leventhal said prior to the council's unanimous vote.

He called the initial project "ill-conceived."

"Whether it was the county's error or the contractor's error it was an expensive error, and now we've got to pay for it," he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here