Plano Williams Natatorium

Before
After
Construction

Plano Williams High School has a pool with some history. Built originally outdoors in the early 1970's and later brought indoors with the addition of an un-air conditioned natatorium, the pool was beginning to show a little age. The old gravity slow rate filters needed new sand, the pool plumbing gallery needed all new pipe, and the pool itself needed to be deepened for competition and modernized.

The pool is actually operated by the City of Plano with the school utilizing the pool for fitness and competition. U.S. Swim age group competitions are held there as well.

With the modernization of the whole campus it became a reasonable extension of the project to upgrade the natatorium as well.

The Brannon Corporation aquatic experts were brought in to inventory the old equipment and evaluate the condition of the pool shell. The pool heating system was antiquated and besides, would be in the way of the school renovations. The old tiled gutter system was not effective and galvanized pipes under the deck were beginning to show their age and rust out.

Brannon selected a stainless steel perimeter overflow system with a roll-out configuration in which the new water level in the pool would be only about 1-1/2" from the edge of the deck. This configuration makes for a faster racing pool because of decreased turbulence on the surface but does a great job of cleaning the pool surface.

Stainless steel perimeter systems have another advantage. In a standard tiled gutter there are gutter drop outs (drains) every fifteen feet or so around the perimeter. When combined with all the filtered return piping through the pool wall, it makes for a spaghetti-like arrangement of pipes under the deck waiting for the most inopportune time to leak or break. With a stainless system the gutter only has two drop out points and therefore only two large diameter PVC drain lines back to the filter room. On the inside of the gutter is a flow tube carrying the filtered water all the way around and dispersing it uniformly into the pool therefore there are only two large PVC filtered return pipes making connections to the gutter system. The result is simplicity.

The pool could not be emptied with the original pumping configuration and gravity filter. Brannon rearranged the plumbing to create a pump out option for the city. The painted pool was then sandblasted and new pool plaster installed

The old pool cross section no longer met requirements for a diving well and so the 1-meter boards had to be removed. In addition the main drain system was now non-compliant with entrapment and capacity regulations of the Texas Department of Health and had to be upgraded. A new main drain pair was cut into the old floor and into the filter gallery behind the deep end wall.

A shallow teaching corner of the pool was made handicapped accessible by the addition of a ramp from deck level into the pool.

A new pool heater had to be installed. Recent changes in Texas codes required the installation of low pollution type gas boilers known as low NOX (nitrous oxide emissions). A Lochinvar heater was specified to meet this requirement.

VLK Architects of Arlington, Texas (www.vlkarchitects.com) were prime design team leaders from the project and took the opportunity to remodel and air condition the natatorium and dressing rooms. All of the shower room spaces had to be modernized and made ADA accessible. An observation deck was built above the new office/restroom/shower room core built at deck level. Old walls were replaced with glass window walls and the entire room re-painted. The entire deck drainage system had to be replaced as part of the project.

Pool subcontractor for the project was Sunbelt Pools, Dallas (www.sunbeltpools.com). The pool and natatorium project was completed for the 2003 summer season at a cost of $417,000 for the pool renovations only. Total renovation expense for the natatorium with pool was $1.1 million.