On a day when temperatures flirted with 90 degrees, it seemed only appropriate for the Turlock City Council to learn that the Columbia Park swimming pool will be open for business in 52 days.

Municipal Services Director Christopher Fisher informed the council that May 17 will be the grand opening for the pool that hasn’t been operational since 2018 — and was promised to be open by spring of 2024.

“Despite all the delays … all four building are installed, all the concrete work is complete, all the furnishings are installed, the shade structures, the benches, the showers, the tables, the fountains, and the lighting. All the pool equipment has been installed — the boilers, the sand filters, the chemicals, pumps, and pump stations.

“We’re in the final push to complete this.”

Once complete, the overall price tag for the pool will sit at nearly $9.1 million.

“I’m ecstatic and so happy for my kids,” said District 2 councilmember Rebecka Monez. “We’re opening May 17 and I will be the first to jump into the pool. I’m taking that liberty.”

The Columbia Pool was the centerpiece of Monez’s first political campaign in 2020.

“It was shut down two years before I joined the council,” said Monez. “People told me, ‘Please fix the pool. Please fix the pool.’ And I said, ‘OK.’”

One of the biggest delays centered around PG&E infrastructure.

“The originally designated utility connection-point specified by PG&E did not provide the necessary gas pressure and volume for the (pool) equipment,” said Fisher, who praised the utility for their willingness to help out. “PG&E collaborated with city staff to identify an alternative connection-point that meets the required specifications.”

Monez said the city’s hands were tied.

“It was incredibly frustrating because you only get so many summers as a kid,” said Monez. “Last year was yet another year without a pool. And I don’t ever want my kids on the Westside to go without.”

After the meeting adjourned, councilmembers retreated into closed session where they discussed searching for an interim city manager to replace Reagan Wilson, who will retire effective May 31.

Wilson took time off recently to deal with a cancer diagnosis.

“I’m feeling fine, but I’ve got a wife who wants me home so we can do a bit of traveling,” said Wilson, formerly the CEO of Stanislaus County. “It’s time.”

Sue Borrego, the former interim president of Cal State Stanislaus who currently serves as Turlock’s deputy city manager, is one potential fill-in candidate. The council did not report on any closed-session deliberations.