VANDALS SLASH HOLE IN NEW BUBBLE OVER POOL

At least this time, the Central High School pool's bubble didn't burst.

It was just slashed, Cape Girardeau police said Tuesday.

A gash over three feet long was discovered by school personnel Tuesday morning in the north side of the bubble, which has been in place since early December.

Damage was not significant enough to warrant closing the pool, said Stephen Del Vecchio, business manager for the Cape Girardeau School District.

"The air pressure inside the bubble is high enough, and the equipment is keeping it up," he said.

The gash has been covered with tape until more permanent repairs can be made, he said.

The incident occurred sometime between 8 p.m. on Monday and 8 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

The location chosen allowed whoever vandalized the bubble to stay out of sight, Del Vecchio said. The vehicle air lock at the north end of the bubble near the high school building blocks the view, he said.

School officials will be considering other security measures beyond the nearly six-foot-high fence around the bubble, Del Vecchio said.

"But it's hard to imagine what they could be," he said.

The previous pool cover, installed in 1992, was damaged twice by storm activity, in April 1998 and April 1999.

The pool was a 1979 cooperative project by Cape Girardeau's city government and the Cape Girardeau School District to build, maintain and operate a swimming pool throughout the year on the campus of Central High School.

The first bubble was installed in 1979, and lasted 13 years before it was replaced in 1992.

The normal lifetime of a bubble is between 10 and 15 years.