State Officials Close Two Pools in Morton Grove

State health officials have closed two pools in Morton Grove, saying the pools did not meet a deadline to comply with new state safety standards.

A list released this month by the The Illinois Department of Public Health shows roughly 500 facilities, including municipal, school, public, condominium and hotel pools that haven't complied with a state law mirroring the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Act, which was designed to prevent drowning deaths after a 7-year-old girl became trapped underwater by the strong suction of a hot tub drain and drowned in 2002.

That law requires pool operators, such as park districts, to install types of pool drain covers prevent dangerous suction power that can cause swimmers to become stuck.

The state's deadline to meet the new standards was Oct. 1.

Earlier:

Melaney Arnold, the state's public health department spokeswoman, said a spot on the non-compliant list doesn't necessarily mean a pool is unsafe or has faulty equipment. Instead, it could be that a school is awaiting approval for permits, or awaiting inspection.

"If a facility needed to do construction to become compliant, they needed to apply with the Department of Public Health to get a permit," she said.

Once the work is completed, she said, the facility needs to be re-inspected and "at that point they’ll mark down in compliance," adding that if a facility "hasn't contacted us to come investigate, we still show them as being non-compliant."

was on that list due to a formality, but everything will be good to go for next season, according to Park District Director Brian Sullivan.

“We already have a permit from them and we’re in the process right now of approving (a bid). We just did our bid openings for the work after the pool closed and so we’ll have them starting here this month,” Sullivan said. “(State health officials) had indicated to us that that was a formality even though we had the permit and that they’ll need to have an extension for us."

Sullivan added that the contractor will be approved at an upcoming Park District meeting. They anticipate work to start on Oct. 10 and have the project completed by the middle of November.

“We’re in good shape and now we’ll be proceeding with the work, so we’ll be just fine,” he said.

Another Morton Grove pool on the Department of Public Health’s pool closure list was , located at 6821 Dempster St. It is unclear how long that pool will be closed, or if they received a permit because a representative from Bally’s corporate office could not be reached by Patch.

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