Failed concrete keeps Fairbanks' Wescott Pool closed all summer, cost climbs

Fairbanks will go the whole summer without its Wescott Pool. The borough closed it in March expecting a September reopening, but bad concrete beneath the pool deck has upended that — the slab failed and has to be torn out and replaced, along with new drains, pushing the reopening to November and the cost ever higher.

On Thursday the Assembly approved another $837,000 for the job, lifting the total past $12 million. Officials said the project's contingency fund — the cushion meant to absorb exactly these kinds of surprises — is nearly gone. And the finish date keeps slipping: first late August, then October, now November 3, meaning the pool's core summer season is a total loss this year.