ANDREWS AFB, Md. –
The bath houses at the base pool have been newly renovated and open for use since May 24.
Tech. Sgt. Miguel Rodriguez, 316 Civil Engineer Squadron Simplified Acquisition Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) project manager, and his team have been hard at work finishing the Gateway pool's bath houses just in time for the summer season.
"We've been working on the pool's bath houses since last September," said Sergeant Rodriguez. "We ensured the project was completed by the Memorial Day opening. I inherited this project from the original project manager, Tech. Sgt. David Gatheright. He had everything in place and we finished it."
Sergeant Rodriguez and 1st Lt. Aaron Meredith, SABER chief, said the pool's bath houses were updated to meet today's accessibility standards.
"The upper facility is now compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act," said Sergeant Rodriguez. "There's a big push within the DoD to meet these standards."
Lieutenant Meredith said the showers were renovated in the upper bath facility to be ADA-compliant. The lifeguard area and the chlorine facility were also improved.
"There's a nice difference between what patrons and the operations folks here can see now that's the construction has been completed versus what was here in years past," said Lieutenant Meredith. "It's a huge difference."
Sergeant Rodriquez said the construction on the pool's bath houses utilized the latest materials available on the market.
"We used the most current and up-to-date construction materials for the bath houses," said Sergeant Rodriguez. "For example, the new ceiling tiles in the upper facility are moisture-resistant. It minimizes the probability of mold since it's a very moisture-contained room."
Sergeant Rodriguez said other materials used in the room considered the moisture-filled room, as well. "The plastic partitions replaced the old, rusty ones. We did away with all the old, rusty metal." The bathroom stalls in the upper facility also have new fixtures and partitions.
Lieutenant Meredith said patrons will notice a difference in the lower bath facility, as well. "The lower facility was more of a massive cleaning effort," said Lieutenant Meredith. "It's much cleaner in there now."
Sergeant Rodriguez noted the difference between the new, fresh facility versus the old bath houses. "It went from dirty and dingy to nice and clean," said Sergeant Rodriguez. "It really gives our patrons a better facility for them to use during the summer days ahead."
"This was an important project to the Andrews community because if you go outside to enjoy a nice, sunny day at the pool, only to go into the old bath house, well it's like walking from a sunshine-filled room to walking into a rainy-day room," said Sergeant Rodriguez. "Now that you walk into the updated bath houses, everything is nice, bright and clean. It's a great addition for the base community."