Judge closes pool pending results of safety inspection

Judge orders shutdown of pool in Carrollton

By: Brooks Egerton – Staff Writer of the Dallas Morning News - Saturday May 24, 1997

A Dallas County judge shut down one of North Texas’ largest pools Friday, saying she had serious concerns about whether it was safe for swimmers to use. State District Judge Candace Tyson barred Sandy Lake Amusement Park’s million-gallon pool from operating until an independent inspection assures her that underwater hazards have been removed. Problems associated with the near-drowning of a Coppell boy last Memorial Day weekend have been fixed, park lawyers insisted in court. They showed that judge pictures of a drainage pipe that they said had been properly covered since Sean Chittenden’s accident. “They still look bad,” the frowning judge said of the photographs. “I’m concerned about letting you open.” After a state Department of Health inspector examines the pool Saturday morning, Judge Tyson said she would confer with lawyers in the Chittenden case by phone. She would then consider lifting her temporary restraining order, allowing the pool to reopen.

Judge Tyson issued the order at the urging of lawyer Tom Shaw, who represents the Chittenden family. Their lawsuit initially targeted only the city of Carrollton, which pronounced the pool fit to open a day before the near-drowning, but the lawsuit was expanded Friday to include Sandy Lake and the maintenance company it hired. Mr. Shaw said the pool still holds dangers, including what he called a jungle of exposed underwater pipes and child-sized openings between the kiddie-pool section and the main pool’s deep end. He argued and the judge agreed, that the Carrollton employee who approved Sandy Lake for operation this year wasn’t qualified to inspect such a large pool. In a deposition last month, Mr. Shaw asked the inspector, Carl Shooter, if he knew “any of the safety standards that are associated with a million-gallon pool.” “No, sir,” was the reply.

Before the hearing started Friday, Sandy Lake attorney Peter Martin wrote Mr. Shaw a letter threatening to sue if an injunction prevented the pool from operating. “Our damages may be thousands of dollars per day,” he wrote. The judge apparently alluded to the threat in issuing her order, saying that “the court’s concern is for the health and safety” of the pool’s patrons, “not for the profit that would be lost.” After the hearing, Mr. Martin said he wouldn’t push ahead immediately with such a suit or an appeal of Judge Tyson’s order. First, he said, he wanted to see what happened with the emergency inspection Saturday morning.

Mr. Martin reiterated his belief in the pool’s safety, while acknowledging that his client had offered a $25,000 settlement to the Chittendens. “There are no entrapment hazards in that swimming pool,” he said. “We’ve tried to update the pool and are convinced of its safety.” Tom Self, part-owner of Sandy Lake and the pool’s manager, said that the lesson of the accident was to “try harder. We do the best we can. We want their safety.” Carrollton has made no settlement offer and plans to continue fighting the suit, its lawyers say. Their position is that the city can’t be held liable for an accident on private property.

Pool gets safety inspection; another scheduled today

Dallas Morning News - Sunday May 25, 1997

Carrollton – Health and safety officials who inspected Sandy Lake Amusement Park’s swimming pool Saturday found several items that must be corrected before a Dallas County judge will consider reopening it. The pool’s owners and their attorneys, confident that the problems could be fixed by Sunday, persuaded a Dallas inspector to return for another look Sunday morning.

Sandy Lake pool closed Sunday, may reopen today

Dallas Morning News - Monday May 26, 1997

Carrollton – The pool at Sandy Lake Amusement Park remain closed Sunday after inspectors asked for more repairs. A judge closed the pool Friday because of safety concerns. The park’s owners expressed confidence the repairs would satisfy an inspector and that the pool would be allowed to open at 10 a.m. Monday.

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