Westbrook’s only public indoor pool is deteriorating and may have to be closed.

Corroded concrete and rusting structural steel have prompted the city to set up tests to determine the severity of the problem.

Allan Bickford, director of buildings and grounds for Westbrook schools, said he’s seen the signs of aging at the 35-year-old John P. Davan Pool, located in Wescott Junior High School, for some years now. But as the city starts to solidify plans for the junior high school building once the new middle school opens next winter, he said, the time has come to take a closer look.

Earlier this month, Harriman Associates, the architectural and engineering firm that will design renovations for the junior high school, completed an inspection of the pool that concluded years of chlorinated water seeping through the concrete have, in some places, severely rusted the steel at its core.

“This weakens the structure, and over time it can be a significant problem,” architect Dan Cecil wrote in an e-mail May 13 to school and city officials.

Cecil requested permission from the city to have further studies completed as soon as possible by engineering firm S.W. Cole to test the strength of the concrete and the steel and see how advanced the deterioration is inside the pool’s walls.

“This will determine whether or not the pool structure can be repaired or must be replaced entirely,” he wrote.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said repair costs could not be estimated until the tests by S.W. Cole were completed. Both he and Bickford insisted that, no matter how severe the problem may be, there are no immediate safety concerns for people swimming in the pool.

“It’s not that the pool is going to collapse,” Bryant said.

Rather, he said, the matter at hand is whether the visible deterioration is the sign of a cosmetic problem that can be patched up or a structural problem that will require more extensive repair.

“We don’t know the answer to that question,” Bryant said.

Recreation Director Randy Peters said the pool is still being used regularly by students in second grade through junior high as part of their gym program, adult lap swimmers, senior citizens in exercise classes and competitive swim teams.

Peters said the six-lane pool, which is 75 feet long and 10 feet deep, is open to the public on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:30-8 a.m., weekdays from 8-10 p.m. and Saturday from 1:30-3 p.m.

Meanwhile, Mayor Bruce Chuluda has asked that the junior high school re-use committee come to him with recommendations for the future of the building by August – plans that could be altered depending on the test results.

Bryant said the committee will discuss Thursday what specific organizations and recreational uses it would like to see located in the building. He said it will likely become some sort of community center, and possibilities, like building a hockey rink and moving administrative offices for the city and school department there are still on the table.

As of Tuesday, Bryant said he was still waiting to receive a complete report from Harriman of its preliminary inspection and to hear from S.W. Cole to schedule further testing.

“It’s not going to fall in tomorrow,” Bryant said, “but it’s something we have to deal with immediately.”

Bickford said, over the years, the city has made some minor repairs to the pool’s underbelly, like sealing the cement in plastic to protect it from the chlorine. He said it could just take some similar types of repairs, like cleaning the rust off the steel and covering it with new cement, to fix the problems there now.

“Hopefully, we’re going to get out if it by just coming in and doing some cosmetics,” Bickford said. “This could last another 25 years.”

Chlorine from the pool at Wescott Junior High has corroded the concrete and rusted the structural steel. Upcoming test will determine the severity of the problem.