Concerns about base pool hours addressed Published Nov. 3, 2006 ALTUS AFB, Okla. -- Major renovation problems at the North pool resulted in its closure for the summer. Unfortunately this resulted in changes to the normal Altus AFB pool services patrons were accustomed to. In our haste to adapt, we failed to identify these changes to our community and this resulted in numerous questions. We apologize for the lack of publicity, however here is the latest. The Water Park Pool is now available for pool parties on Tuesdays thanks to some outstanding work by our Services and Civil Engineer Squadrons. They teamed together to accomplish all required maintenance, cleaning and safety inspections, normally completed on Tuesdays, at other times. This provides an extra pool day and reinstates pool reservations we lost with the North pool closure (see Services ad p. 11). Additionally, we had to move swim lessons to the Water Park Pool to accommodate the 114 children enrolled. Based upon customer requests and slowest usage (hourly patron counts), 6 to 7 p.m. was chosen to minimize overall community impact. Furthermore, during children swim lessons we do not allow other swimmers in the pool. Although this is an inconvenience, we believe this is necessary. Children learning to swim normally have a fear of water, and waves made by others add to this fear. As well, many children have a short attention span, and other swimmers could add to distractions. To minimize the impact of swim lessons, the adult swim at 5:45 p.m. is suspended to allow an additional 15 minutes of swim time and general swim opens up again right after the lesson is complete. We hope these changes and new opportunities will allow you and your family to continue enjoying our wonderful facility. Customer comment forms are available at the pool's cashier table and we encourage your feedback. Thanks for your comments and the opportunity to address these issues.