Tuesday afternoon, city commissioners and local residents heard a second proposal for a swimming pool design from Continental Pools Inc. out of Gardner.
Representing the Kansas company at the meeting were vice president Clark Waage, project engineer Brian Lowe and James F. Sullivan Jr. AIA with Sullivan Palmer Architects out of Lenexa. Waage kicked off the meeting by talking briefly about the company. He explained that they try to do as much work in house as possible.
However, for buildings, Waage said they like to design them but use local contractors to build them. He later explained that this is because if something gets torn up in the building, the contractor who built it will be in town and easy for the city to contact. Lowe then spoke about the project, which he estimated would cost about $2.43 million.
“It’s hard to give you an exact number, but I feel that I’m probably within 3 to 5 percent,†Lowe said. He estimated the project would take about 9 months to finish. In the design, the company used the base of the old pool to create a lap pool with slides. Lowe said the pool was designed to be 82 feet long and 60 feet wide with six lanes.
Competitions can take place in the pool, he said, and he did not add an eighth lane for fear the bottom of the slides might cause a problem with swimmers in that lane. The pool would be 4 feet deep in the corners and slope down to a depth of 5 feet, 6 inches. Also designed out of the area where the old pool currently is was a double zeroentry pool for the younger age group.
This pool would have squares painted on the bottom for water aerobic classes and would also have several play features, including water cannons. The pool would be 50 feet wide by 83.5 feet long and would be 3 feet 6 inches deep at its deepest point. The play features would be made of stainless steel, which Lowe felt are of better quality than fiberglass play features.
Also, Lowe designed two wading pools for the youngest age group. These would each be 15 feet by 30 feet and would be on a different filtration system than the other two pools. Also in his design, Lowe included shade structures, including a large one under which families could picnic, and landscaped areas that could double as benches.
The landscaped areas, he said, could serve to break up the monotony of the concrete deck with color, but they would also help keep children from running on the deck. Lastly, the company designed the bath house to the north of the pool, which they thought would be a good location should the city decide to later expand the pool and add a lazy river feature.
The pool would have 2,400 square feet of deck space in the design, and Sullivan added that the bathrooms in the bath house could be designed so they could also be opened during special events in the park without having to open the pool. Waage also explained that though the company had used the old pool in the design, they would be building a new pool, not just patching the old one.
The new pool would be built within the old using the existing walls, he said. Also, Waage said the requirements the state of Kansas has for pools are lax, so the company had used an 11-state code that he described as having a strict code book.
Waage suggested the city have someone from the company in Liberal to oversee the progress starting with demolition, adding that it is important that they see the demolition of the old pool is being done correctly. After the pool is built, he said the company will help train employees to operate the facility.
He added that they would also send someone to help shut the pool down at the end of the first season, and then send someone back to be on hand for the reopening of the pool the second year. They would do this, Waage said, because usually city employees are so excited to get the new pool open, they sometimes forget things.
Also, he assured city employees that should Parks and Recreation Director Gary Scott retire in the next few years, the company would send someone to Liberal to train the new person. Commissioners also discussed the costs that would be on the city.
The representatives explained they had included the costs of the pool and play features in the $2.43 estimate, but that the city would be expected to take care of parking, fencing, landscaping (though the company would place the landscaping areas and dirt), lighting, demolition, lounge chairs and moving utilities.
Waage also added that he has built pools with his father for 38 years and said in those 38 years, they have never been late on a project. The commission has been debating building a new aquatics center for some time, and recently they began to schedule special meetings with companies who build pools.
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landscape,
Landscaping,
new pool,
pool,
rta,
square feet,
swimming pool design
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