Repairs to mop up center's water leaks

SANTA FE (KRQE) - Santa Fe city officials said they’ve finally found a way to fix the many water leaks plaguing the city’s massive community center since it opened in 1999, and it wasn’t nearly as complicated or expensive as they thought.

“We were under the impression that we needed to spend a significant amount of money, design money and construction money,” Santa Fe Public Works Director Robert Romero said.

Visitors to the city’s Genoveva Chavez Community Center have grown accustomed to seeing numerous water leaks throughout the facility.

City officials spent years looking at the building’s blueprints, knowing all along the problem was more than just a leaky roof.

Late last week, Romero and a team of experts discovered the pool area’s malfunctioning climate control system was largely to blame. A repairman made some adjustments Friday, at a cost of about $5,000.

“We have a pool area that needs to be very warm and humid. We have an ice rink that needs to be very cool and humid. And we have a large gym that needs to be warm and dry,” Romero said. “The combination of those three environments makes it a very difficult system to be maintained.”

Ever since the recent repair, the community center has been mostly dry.

Center employees are monitoring the building’s climate control measurements to make sure the leaks don’t return, Romero said.

Early last week, visitors and staff described a sopping wet gym area. The basketball court’s wooden floors have suffered permanent damage.

While visitors are relieved they’re no longer sharing space with buckets and towels, they’re still left with questions.

“You would think that when you build a place like this, you might forecast some of these problems,” gym visitor Orlando Padilla said.

The center still has to undergo some changes, Romero said, including sealing off the pool area so the humidity doesn’t escape, and addressing problems with the vapor barrier system in the building’s roof.

The city spent $27 million to build the community center ten years ago.

Since 2006, city officials spent about $250,000 on improvements and expert analysis to address the water leaks.

“The biggest issue (now) is controlling the environment in the pool area and in the rest of the facility, especially when it comes to humidity and temperature,” Romero said.