Carlton Public Works employee Lyn Carl monitors the draining of the 50,000-gallon pool after vandals trashed the structure over the weekend.

Chrissy Ragulsky
NewsRegister.com

Vandals entered the Carlton swimming pool enclosure over the weekend, ripped off the winter cover and threw the cover and other objects into the water.

City workers discovered the vandalism Monday morning.

They are draining the 50,000 gallon pool in order to retrieve the water-logged cover and other objects, as well as to check for damage. They expect to finishing emptying the pool today, then immediately start refilling it, using a fire hose.

The outdoor pool, one of the few such municipal facilities in the state, is kept filled with chlorinated water during the winter so the concrete shell is not damaged by rising groundwater or cracked by fluctuating temperatures. The heavy canvas cover affords additional protection during the off-season.

Lyn Carl of the city's Public Works Department said it usually takes two or three adults to secure it over the pool in the fall and remove it for the summer opening.

For that reason, city workers speculated that there had to be more than one vandal, and that it took them close to 30 minutes to do the damage.

"Whoever did it was tough," Carl said. "That cover isn't easy to move."

Public Works Supervisor Bryan Burnham agreed, saying, "They really had to work at it."

In addition to sinking the cover, vandals tossed in cleaning equipment, lifeguard stands, ladders, a garbage can, a drawer from the pool office and other items.

They also stretched a garden hose from the locker rooms to the pool edge, as if trying to add water to the pool.

Vandals apparently entered the enclosure by climbing over the 8-foot chain-link fence. Cost of refilling the pool and repairing any damage has not yet been determined.

City Manager Steven Weaver asked anyone who spotted suspicious activity in the pool area over the weekend, or has other potentially relevant information, to call Carlton City Hall at 503-852-7575 or contact police through the YCOM dispatch agency at 503-434-6500.