"A new boiler will be installed to resolve heating issues with the indoor pool during the winter months." That line comes from a Jan. 12, 2026 staff report to Ballwin's Board of Aldermen, and it explains most of what happened at The Pointe at Ballwin Commons this year.
The indoor pool closed on Monday, July 27, for what the city called "at least 4 weeks" of improvements. A new pool schedule took effect Sept. 17. The October city newsletter announced "Indoor Pool Renovations Finished!" The pool is open again, and almost everything done to it this summer was meant for the months coming up now.
A summer project aimed at cold weather
Most of the renovation money went to two goals. The first was keeping the water comfortable when it is cold outside. The second was giving kids a reason to get in.
The boiler is the clearest example of the first. According to the staff report, the new boiler addresses heating problems the pool had in winter. Alongside it, Veregy replaced water circulation sensors that "no longer work properly." The report says those sensors matter for "gathering accurate data, which will allow staff and contractors to better regulate pool temperatures during seasonal fluctuations." When West Newsmagazine covered the January vote, it described the boiler as a way to add warmer water to the pool, with help from the new sensors.
The locker rooms got similar attention. New hot and cold water lines and mixing valves went into the showers "to ensure more comfortable water temperatures for members and guests." In January, a warm pool doesn't help much if the shower afterward runs cold.
Where the money went
The project budget was $605,000. A municipal park grant covered $575,000, and the city put in a required $30,000 match. The six contracts the Board approved added up to $603,905:
- Aquatic play unit, $306,000: Landmark Aquatic, replacing the old structure
- Pool resurfacing, $134,770: Schilli Plastering, which hydroblasted the old surface, made repairs and recoated the pool in Pebble Tec
- Shower plumbing, $63,712: Merlo Plumbing
- Pool boiler, $36,781: Jarrell Mechanical Contractors
- Circulation sensors and controllers, $31,842: Veregy
- Locker room epoxy floors, $30,800: Technicoat Industrial Floor Coatings
The play unit alone used just over half of the awarded total. The boiler and sensors together cost $68,623, which is cheap compared with the problem they were bought to fix. Some of the contractors were chosen because nobody else could do the job. The staff report calls Schilli Plastering the only licensed Pebble Tec installer in the St. Louis area. It says the circulation system is a custom CTS design, and CTS now operates as Veregy. West Newsmagazine reported that the Board approved the project unanimously, and that Parks and Recreation Director Chris Conway said the improvements came in under budget.
For The Pointe's other spaces, the same meeting approved new fitness center flooring at $85,322, three replacement power-rack stations for $30,457, and $18,142 to paint the elevator column, slide stair tower and slide support structure.
A play structure designed from a resident survey
Parks and Recreation staff ran a survey about The Pointe's indoor pool in summer 2025. The staff report says the new play unit's design elements are "a direct response" to that survey.
The structure was custom designed by Vortex, an aquatic play manufacturer, together with Landmark Aquatic, a local aquatics contractor. The city bought it through a purchasing cooperative, so the product and installation had already been competitively bid. The city hasn't given it a brand name. In the October newsletter it is simply the "brand new kids play structure."
So the biggest single purchase in the project was something families asked for, and it sits in water the city has just paid to keep warm through the winter.
When the water is open to the public this fall
The current Indoor Pool Schedule, revised Sept. 10, runs from Sept. 17 through Dec. 31, 2026. Open swim is grouped toward the end of the week:
- Wednesday: 4:30 to 7 p.m.
- Friday: 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday: noon to 5:30 p.m.
There is no open swim on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday.
Lap swimmers have much more time. Lanes open at 5:30 a.m. every weekday, there are long midday blocks, and Monday, Tuesday and Thursday also have evening windows ending at 9 p.m. Sunday lap swim runs from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Group swim lessons run year-round.
The main building is open 5:15 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. The city notes that the indoor pool keeps its own hours. Two holiday dates are worth adding to a calendar: The Pointe is closed on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, and closes at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. No schedule for January and February 2027 has been posted yet.
Oct. 23, and the pool nights after it
The renovated pool's first big public night is the Halloween Hullabaloo on Friday, Oct. 23, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. It's free, open to everyone and doesn't require registration. The city lists crafts, games, a chili tasting and live entertainment, plus a Glow Pumpkin Plunge in the pool. If you swim or work out at The Pointe on Fridays, plan around special hours that day. The facility runs 5:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. before the event.
The Hullabaloo is one of several pool events on the city's calendar through mid-December:
- Oct. 19 to 27, Pumpkin Walk: decorated pumpkin yard signs from the Great Pumpkin Sign Decorating Contest go on display at The Pointe. Visitors vote in five categories, including Spookiest Pumpkin and People's Choice, and winners are announced Oct. 30. Signs had to be picked up by Oct. 9 and must be returned by Oct. 19.
- Oct. 22, Nov. 12 and Dec. 10, Fish Tales at The Pointe.
- Oct. 28, Little Explorers Halloween Bash, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
- Nov. 13, Thanksgiving pool party, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
- Dec. 5, Reindeer Swim, 3 to 5:30 p.m.
- Dec. 18, Holiday Pool Party, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
That puts three pool events between mid-November and Christmas week, all in the stretch of the year the new boiler was bought for. The adult volleyball league also plays at The Pointe on Fridays through Dec. 11, so Friday evenings in the building will be busy until close to the holidays.
Around the edges of a Pointe evening
The city is opening up another rebuilt facility on Saturday, Oct. 17. Ballwin finished a $4.4 million renovation of its Public Works facility and built a new Parks Maintenance facility, and both are open to the public that morning from 10 a.m. to noon. Those are the crews that maintain places like The Pointe.
For something warm after swimming, St. Louis Magazine reported that Pana Coffee & Desserts opened July 6 at 910 Kehrs Mill Road, Suite 102. It's a 12-seat café serving Greek coffee and baked goods. On weekends, open swim ends at 5:30 p.m., which leaves time for an early-evening coffee and pastry.
The outdoor version of this kind of family amenity is at Vlasis Park. The city's project page describes a redesigned playground with inclusive swings, sensory play, toddler and hillside play areas, and a reopened splash pad, paid for with two municipal park grants. Board minutes announced its ribbon cutting for April 26, 2025.
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