12 North Shore Towers Courier n July 2016 40 -year-old indoor pool set for a facelift BY STEPHEN VRATTOS “It’s time for a facelift,” said North Shore Towers Board Member and GAP (Gym/ Aerobics/Pool) Committee Chair Phyllis Goldstein, who oversaw the refurbishment of the indoor pool. “We live in the most luxurious complex in Queens and the pool needs to be upgraded to measure up to those standards.” Winding down the first year of her second stint on the Board, Goldstein knows of what she speaks. She was among the first residents in North Shore Towers when the doors opened in 1975 and has witnessed firsthand any work, or lack thereof, that has been done on the pool from it’s inauguration forty years ago. “They may have changed the furniture; painted the columns, but there’s nothing substantially different in its design, since I moved here. It’s time to bring the indoor pool into our century.” The genesis of the project go back to Goldstein’s GAP Chair predecessor, Maria Termini-Miller, who approached fellow Board Member Mario Carmiciano two years ago about assisting her committee in upgrading the indoor pool, specifically addressing lighting concerns with areas that were not illuminated well. As with most other aspects, the lighting was 40-years-old, too, and Carmiciano suggested some temporary short-term solutions to solve the immediate concerns. He obtained a sample fixture, which was installed and remains, while he takes the time to properly research and evaluate a more permanent upgrade, which will utilize LED Design renderings courtesy of Beth Donner Design Inc. arrays instead of high intensity discharge lamps, i.e. metal halide lamps. Carmiciano’s most difficult challenge was trying to integrate the technical aspects of a new lighting solution without sacrificing the natatorium’s sensibilities. “The pool is a large area, covered by a large dome that is almost inaccessible under normal circumstance,” he explained. “So the solution had to have a large lumen output, while not looking cumbersome to the occupants. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that doesn’t always work well with solutions.” A career engineer, Carmiciano was the ideal candidate to spearhead indoor pool’s lighting renovation and it is fortunate The Rendering of entrance hallway and far wall Towers had his expertise at hand to ensure the development of the indoor pool modernization proceeds properly in that regard. “I’m able to bring my many years of engineering skills to the committee, which include lighting design solutions for recreational and competitive natatoriums.” As for the structural aspects of indoor pool area, as the adage goes, “she has good bones.” Fortunately, the pool and the building that houses it, is sound, requiring no reconstruction, including the aforementioned expansive vaulted dome, the dramatic highpoint of the indoor pool and part of the beauty, which make North Shore Towers natatorium the envy of the Borough’s co-ops. But what the Columns, brick walls and bulwark, surrounding hot tub, set to be lightened and updated Paint and tile samples, and wallpaper swatch of proposed materials for indoor pool facelift
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