It looks as if work on rebuilding the landmark wading pool in Martin Luther King Park will continue after the swimming season ends, leaving residents without the vast structure for a second year in a row.
The $4.5 million project was supposed to be finished in time for this season. Then, the hope was to lose only part of the season. Now, it won't be done until a later date.
The MLK project is a big undertaking, with five acres of concrete and thousands of feet of pipe to be installed and inspected. Mayor Byron Brown says the contractor is behind schedule and the goal now is to get the job completed properly.
"Now our view and our focus is to make sure that it gets done right. We are inspecting on a daily basis. We are testing on a weekly basis. We feel that it's going to be the world-class attraction that it's designed to be and, once complete, Buffalo will have something in the Martin Luther King Park wading pool that few communities in America can boast that they have," Brown said.
While pools normally open July 1, Mayor Brown opened them early this year because of the heat. Brown says there are existing alternatives, including a wading pool 50 feet from the construction site.
