Community teams up to fix Silver Lake pool after kids cut feet through old surface

SILVER LAKE, Minnesota — Fire trucks from several communities joined forces on Tuesday to help reopen a community pool.

The pool at Silver Lake was forced to close last week due to recurring problems with swimmers cutting their feet on the bottom surface. The city says the 18-year-old surface lasted only 15 years, but presented no problems until this summer.

“When we cleaned the pool this spring, we weren’t walking around barefoot in there,” said Dale Kosek of Silver Lake Public Works. “We couldn’t tell by looking at it. It’s fine. But when you get the little guys in and they sit there for two, three hours, the skin starts to soften and it starts to irritate them.”

The pool tried to solve the problem by requiring swimmers to wear shoes, but the Minnesota Department of Health intervened.

Community members joined forces this weekend to resurface the bottom of the pool.

“Being a professional tile contractor, I understand how to get surfaces smooth. I have all the equipment at my company to sand concrete surface sanding equipment. So I could take my skills and apply them to the pool. I only had skilled bodies to help do it,” said Brent Posusta.

Once the smoothing work was done, fire trucks from around Silver Lake came in to refill the pool and prepare it for reopening, though officials acknowledge this is a “Band-Aid.”

That fresh water must now be chemically treated with chlorine before the swimming pool can open again.

The city hopes it will be ready to reopen on Friday.