COLLEGE POINT — The pools at the popular Spa Castle were shut down by the Department of Health on Tuesday after a girl nearly drowned last month.
Health officials launched an investigation into the mega facility after an 8-year-old was pulled from one of its pools on Feb. 19, officials said. She was taken to the hospital in serious condition, according to the FDNY.
The incident set off an investigation by the DOH, which has cited the facility for violations in the past.
Inspectors found two of the spa pools were illegally altered without DOB approval or health inspections, officials said.
Surveillance footage from the near-drowning also found the pool had an "excessive suction" that pulled the victim underwater.
Additionally efforts to resuscitate the victim, who was taken to a nearby hospital in serious condition, were not consistent with what staff told DOH inspectors.
A spokesman for the DOH said the agency ordered all of the pools to close, although the rest of the facility remains open.
"The facility’s pools will remain closed until a revised safety plan has been put into place, and the Health Department is satisfied that Spa Castle is compliant," spokesman Christopher Miller said.
It could take weeks for the pools to reopen, depending on how long it takes for Spa Castle to present a revised safety plan.
This is just the latest set of problems for the spa. In 2014 a man had a heart attack and died in one of Spa Castle's Jacuzzis, officials said.
In December 2014 the company expanded to open Spa Castle Premier 57 in Midtown Manhattan, but had to close the facility just a month later because it didn't have a permit or a safety plan, officials said.
Health inspectors have also cited the facility for not having enough disinfectant in pools at its Midtown and College Point locations.
