In December, people who normally swim at the Ann Arbor Y were unexpectedly plunged into unfamiliar waters at the city’s Mack Indoor Pool and the county’s Meri Lou Murray Recreation Center–all because of a simple project to upgrade the Y pools’ lights with more efficient LEDs.
Replacing the bulbs “was no big deal,” says Y president and CEO Toni Kayumi. “It would have been happening in the evenings and on the weekends.” But as the electricians worked, a piece of glass broke off a fixture, fell to the pool deck, and shattered, which is how they learned that some of the hardware attaching the lights had been weakened by years of exposure to humidity and chlorine vapor. “And there was broken glass,” says Kayumi.
To be sure it was all cleaned up, the Y had had to drain both pools. And they “decided they had to take all of the fixtures down,” explains Vedder Electric manager Matt Whybark, to check and re-secure them.
Fortunately, Kayumi says, the city and county “graciously allowed our swimmers to go to their pools at no charge … Both of those governmental agencies were wonderful in coming to our rescue and helping us out.” And, she laughs, the extensive work at least provided entertainment for Y members working out upstairs. A window wall in the gym looks out on the pool area, so “while they’ve been on the recumbent bikes they have been watching the whole process.” As the Observer went to press, she expected her swimmers would be back home before Christmas.