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NILES -- After serving as Niles parks director for 44 years, Carmen Vivolo retired Friday.
The Niles Park Board voted Friday to accept his resignation, effective immediately.
"This is a sad day for me, I was working for the city when we hired (Vivolo) more than 40 years ago. He did a great job. He could be dramatic, but he followed through on everything. We appreciate his years of professional management," said Niles Mayor Tom Scarnecchia.
Vivolo gave "his heart and soul" to the parks department and it will be hard to find someone to fill his shoes, said Dave Wilkerson, a member of the park board.
The three-member board will be responsible for replacing Vivolo.
Harry Salapata, a board member, said the board will create a job description and start accepting applications in the near future. The board hopes to have someone in place before the parks close Oct. 1, Salapata said.
Park board member Ray Harper said Vivolo was critical to getting levies for the city passed, and the board hopes to find an equally capable person to take over.
In the meantime, Edward Stredney, Niles service director, said he and other park department employees will handle the director's responsibilities.
The park board did not address issues with the Niles swimming pool at Waddell Park, but members said it may come up for discussion in a July meeting.
The pool was closed in 2014 when the city didn't have the resources to continue staffing it with lifeguards. The facility has been unused since, except to store the roughly 6,100 residential water meters still awaiting installation.
A study of the city's buildings by Phillips Sekanick Architects Inc. released in May suggests the pool, building and deck be demolished at a cost of $275,000 to $325,000. Restoring the facility would cost the city about $1.83 million, the report states.
The study found a water pipe leak underneath the pool and roof leaks, cracked walls and a damaged deck in the pool building.
The city has a $67,000 grant to complete some renovations to the pool, but may try to change the project's parameters.
rfox@tribtoday.com