First, the aquatic center project must be designed and engineered, a process Miamisburg City Council set into motion Tuesday night when it voted to approve a professional services agreement with Cincinnati-based Champlin Architecture for $740,944.
“Council approved a redesign process because that’s what is needed,” said Mayor Michelle Collins. “Fixing the existing pool, economically, was just not a viable option.”
Miamisburg announced in November that it canceled the 2024 swimming season at Sycamore Trails Aquatic Center due to issues with the piping infrastructure, which has critically failed over the last few years.
The re-visioned facility is part of a “long-term master plan concept that will revitalize, rejuvenate, and repurpose the outdoor aquatics center into a premier destination amenity, not just for the current membership, but the community at large,” according to Miamisburg Parks & Recreation Director Ryan Davis’ presentation to council during a Tuesday night work session.
The presentation emphasized that numerous features included in the presentation are “concept elements only” that “likely will be different, determined during design and based upon cost estimates.” They include:
- adding an outdoor pavilion with an expanded concession area;
- converting the sand volleyball area into a kiddie pool;
- renovating the pool house;
- installing a 4,571 square-foot, 8-lane, 25-yard lap pool, a 1,246 square-foot teaching program pool and a 5,027-square-foot, multi-level children’s aquatic space for those under 8 years old;
- completely replacing the existing recreation/lap pool with one that is 10,615 square feet and has similar and upgraded features;
- adding a new slide amenity — a two or three-slide unit that incorporates a flume, plunge and an open slide.
Receiving resident feedback was “crucial” to council’s decision, Collins said. “That feedback solidified that an upgraded facility and additional amenities are important to the community,” she said.
Davis said Wednesday that elements proposed in the concept plan may change in terms of size and scope, but could still be included in the overall re-envisioning of the facility.
“During the design process there are still hundreds of decisions to be made and each will impact the overall cost of the project,” he said. “It’s possible that as we get into design and have a better understanding of the anticipated construction costs, several elements may adjust..”
The design process is expected to be completed by the end of October, with an expectation of bidding the project this November, Davis said.
The “reenvision” option was one of three courses of action presented to city council during the Tuesday work session. A “repair” option proposed replacing the existing pool’s piping infrastructure, resurfacing the pool and replacing its sides, filters, pumps and mechanicals at an estimated $4.5 million cost.
The presentation said that option would present several problems, including difficulty in removing the pool floor and maintaining structural integrity of the overall structure, plus difficulty to ensure a water-tight vessel after construction due to the amount of concrete removed. It also cautioned about site damage and additional information learned once construction begins leading to project requirements increasing beyond the original agreement.
A “renovate” option, which Davis called “a middle-ground idea,” would have included the repairs along with several improvements, but had no firm cost estimate.
“Because this option included the same pool as the existing facility, all of the negative considerations of the repair option were still in play, making this a non-viable option,” he said.
Miamisburg has had a public pool since 1937. It was part of a Depression-era Works Progress Administration project.
Sycamore Trails Aquatic Center was constructed in the early 1990s and opened to the public in 1996.
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