Mayor Dan Champagne, the Town Council, Parks and Recreation Department staff and others celebrated the grand opening of the new Horowitz Pool at Henry Park Tuesday evening.
Also on hand were Town Administrator John W. Kleinhans and Public Works Director Dwight Ryniewicz, who oversaw reconstruction of the pool house, utilities and other parts of the pool project. Juliano’s Pools of Vernon built the new pool.
Mayor Champagne and the first two swimmers to take to the water at the new Horowitz Pool, Maya Marroni, left, and Sydney Kyc.
The pool opens to the public on Monday, when all Vernon aquatics facilities open. But two Vernon girls got to be swimmers No. 1 and 2.
Some of the life guards who will keep swimmers safe at Horowitz Pool this summer.
Sydney Kyc, 10, and Maya Marroni, 9, who will be fifth graders at Center Road School in the fall, arrived with Maya’s mom hoping to swim. With a full complement of lifeguards at the pool, Mayor Champagne invited the girls to be the first swimmers in the pool.
Both pronounced the water “great.”
Mayor Champagne said he was looking forward to seeing the pool packed with children and families when it opens, just like it was when he was a boy growing up in Rockville.
Vernon’s aquatics facilities – Horowitz Pool, Community Pool at 375 Hartford Turnpike and Newhoca Beach at 185 Grier Road – are open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Daily admission is $3 for children 12 and younger, and $5 for people 13 and older. Season passes are available to Vernon residents only for $30 for children 12 and younger and $50 for people 13 and older. There is also a family pass available to Vernon residents for $120. It covers a family of four, which is one adult and three children or two adults and two children. Additional children within the household can be included on the pass for $15 each.
Members of the Vernon Senior Center can swim from 11 a.m. to noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The original Horowitz Pool was constructed in 1953 and was a gift to the town from William R. Horowitz, president of what would become Amerbelle. In his will, he designated $10,000 toward construction of a public swimming pool.
The original pool underwent renovations and repairs during its lifespan. The last significant renovation was in 1990. Age and ground water had taken a toll on the pool and in recent decades considerable expense and effort by Parks and Recreation Department staff went into ensuring it would open for the summer season.
In 2006 a consulting engineer carried out a detailed examination of the pool and its infrastructure and determined an investment of $500,000 to $1 million would extend the pool's useful life by 12 to 15 years. Updates to the engineering report were consistent with that initial assessment.
In 2019 and 2020 a consultant, TLB Architecture, performed another analysis of the pool and concluded many of its major components were beyond their useful life. The consultants recommended replacing the pool and pool house because rehabilitation was not feasible.
The pool was closed in 2019. Because it was beyond its useful life, Mayor Dan Champagne and town staff explored a variety of options that included building an indoor pool and several outdoor pool possibilities. The cost for an indoor pool came in at more than $20 million and the outdoor options were in the $8 to $12 million range. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, pool discussions were put on hold.
In 2023 town officials began talking to Brian Juliano of Juliano's Pools. He suggested a different, more cost-effective approach to replacing Horowitz Pool.
In April 2023, Mayor Champagne recommended to the Town Council that it award a contract to Juliano's Pools to replace Horowitz Pool. The council voted 10-0 with one abstention to award the $1.3 million contract. Construction was completed in September 2024. The project was paid for with American Rescue Plan Act funds.