SNOHOMISH — Shorter is better in the long run.
That’s what Snohomish School District leaders have determined as they continue planning for a new aquatics center.
The district had been considering a 50-meter competition pool, but concluded that the annual operations costs would be too steep. It now favors a 25-meter pool.
“I’m looking at how we can make it the most energy- efficient building around and to reduce the cost of operations,” said Bill Mester, the school district’s superintendent.
Plans now call for a competitive pool for swimming events, a recreational pool and a therapy pool.
A study is under way as to how everything would fit into the new center.
The aquatics center was part of a $261 million bond measure voters approved in 2008. Most of the money goes to improving existing schools, but $19.9 million was earmarked for the aquatics center that will be used by students as well as the community.
District leaders hope the pools can be built on the site of the former Hal Moe Memorial Pool, 405 Third St. The Hal Moe pool closed permanently in 2007 because of major structural and safety issues. The district also had been considering the site of the former Snohomish Freshman Campus, 601 Glen St.
“We ran into some real problems at the freshman campus,” Mester said. “It has a high water table and some of the water is under pressure.”
Even though the district now has identified its preferred site, there is no guarantee the aquatics center will be built on the old pool site.
The city and the school board are planning a joint workshop July 21 to understand how a new pool could affect the Averill Youth Complex, city manager Larry Bauman said.
The complex is a city-owned park next to the Boys &Girls Club that includes a skateboard park and a playground.
The school district will build and operate the pool, but the city plans to offer land for the project.
Bauman hasn’t seen the site plan, but it’s likely a larger pool complex could encroach on the skateboard park and the playground equipment.
If so, the City Council would have to decide whether to move the skateboard park and modify the playground. The park is city-owned land.
City staff also are hunting around for other land that might work, too, Bauman said.
The pool should provide a much-needed outlet for exercise and play in the community, especially for families and kids, he said.
“It’s a huge investment in the community with a long-lasting value,” he said.
The aquatics center is scheduled to open in 2011
The goal is to accommodate educational needs, athletic practice, competitive events and therapeutic and recreational uses and serve people of all ages, Mester said.
“A lot of people have a lot of questions,” Mester said. “We just don’t have all the answers yet.”
Ralph Rohwer, the district’s program director for capital projects, said the district is looking for several key answers in the pool study that is under way. It wants to determine the dimensions of the competition pool and it wants to feel confident that whatever is included with the recreational pool, such as slides, holds the long-term interest of people so they will keep coming back.
Mainly, Rohwer said, “We have to make sure that the district can live with the operations cost.”
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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