Portland city councilors gave preliminary support this week to spending another $1.5 million to complete a lengthy and frustrating renovation of the Riverton Community Center pool.

The pool, located at Talbot Elementary School, closed in 2023 after structural issues were found, but the project has stretched into a third year as more problems have been discovered. Now, city officials are asking for more funding only days after councilors approved the city’s capital spending for next year.

Ethan Hipple, director of parks, recreation and facilities, said this week that the project has faced a number of setbacks and delays stemming from unforeseen issues with the structure, which was built in the 1970s.

The list of work has included major fixes to the pool walls, a completely redesigned gutter system, and a regrading of the bottom to meet modern standards. Hipple also said the floor drains had “failed completely,” which necessitated jackhammering the pool deck and retiling.

This past fall, the city issued a stop work order to investigate an electrical grounding issue and safety concerns. Recent testing confirmed work could safely proceed.

“It’s been a hard project,” he told the council’s finance committee Thursday. “(It’s) one of those that you make some progress then uncover more issues.”

Original estimates for the project put the cost at about $2.3 million, but as issues mounted the budget grew to $3 million. Now, staff says another $1.5 million is needed to complete the reconstruction.

If the council funds the work this year, the pool could reopen as early as spring of 2027, a staff memo said. Bonding the funds would add an estimated $145,000 in annual debt service to the city budget starting in fiscal year 2028.

“I’m not interested in further delays,” Councilor Ben Grant said Thursday. “There’s a significant community expectation that we finish this as soon as possible.”

The loss of the Riverton pool has placed pressure on the Reiche Community School pool in Portland’s West End, which is also aging, to absorb the local demand. Portland schools also lost their home for competitive high school swimming.

Brooke Teller, director of Maine Community Swimming, which provides water safety lessons to Portland students, said her organization has had to use the Boys & Girls Club and the Westbrook Community Center due to demand at Reiche.

“I see it as a critical piece of the water safety puzzle to have that pool open again,” Teller said. “There’s just so much that has not been happening in the last three years.”

The lingering issues at Riverton have resulted in numerous emails and calls to councilors. At a recent City Council meeting, Portland resident George Rheault questioned why the issues hadn’t been discovered earlier.

“Somehow our city that has a lot of assets that they’re supposed to be keeping an eye on, nobody saw that a 50-year-old pool might need a good look,” he said. “Why are we spending millions on new things when the old stuff is really not being taken care of very well?”

The pool closure has overlapped with the rebuilding of the former Kiwanis outdoor pool on Douglass Street. The newly named Rising Eddy Community Pool, which cost $11.5 million, is slated to open in July.

Councilors were in agreement this week on funding the Riverton project, but appeared split on how to do so. Some favored reallocating funds from the recently approved Capital Improvement Plan, while others said it should come from a separate bond.

Hipple said the council could opt to fund the project in the 2028 plan, but that would mean the pool would be closed for another year.

Councilor Sarah Michniewicz said Thursday’s discussion gave her déjà vu from a debate last month over requested additional spending to complete the overhaul of Congress Square Park. She said she supported “finishing projects that are long overdue.”

“We’ve promised this. Let’s get it done,” added Mayor Mark Dion.