By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The pool season may over, but the pool design season is just beginning. Monday night, the Great Bend City Council reviewed the first set of renderings for the new city pool planned for 2027. Demolition of the current pool and construction of a new facility on the east side of Brit Spaugh Park originally carried a price tag of $6-6.5 million. The first set of renderings put the project closer to $9-10 million, all paid for by the quality-of-life sales tax. The council and City Administrator Logan Burns agreed the opportunity is now to build something the community is proud of.
"This is a one hit, one run, you can say, in a lot of our lifetimes," Burns said. "You don't get a chance to rebuild this. I know we talked a little bit about phasing on the Brit Spaugh Park project. You compare phasing on that project compared to a pool project - it's just out of the question."
The council previously considered renovations to the south side of the park. With the Great Bend Rec's new basketball court at Eisenhower School, and the new mini soccer pitches at Heizer Park, Burns said spending the extra money for the pool is contingent on using the $1.721 million previously planned for those renovations on the new pool. The first rendering showed a pool with 10,800 square feet of water space, about 1,200 fewer than the existing pool
"You lose about 1,000 square feet, but I think we're hitting on every amenity that the community is somewhat expecting," said Burns. "The lazy river is probably the biggest one."
The new pool design is still very much in the planning stage. The renderings and ideas reviewed Monday night are subject to change before any final decisions are made on the redesign later this year. Some of the features of the rendering discussed include:
Same play feature
The existing play feature and bucket in the northeast corner of the pool will remain. The council estimates it will cost approximately $100,000 to update the feature and apply a new gel coat to the slides.
Lazy River
The lazy river presented is approximately 215 lineal feet, and is 10 feet wide to allow the use of inner tubes while floating on the river. Any narrower and tubes could not be used. Spray features could also be placed over sections of the lazy river. The number of lifeguards required to monitor a lazy river has been a stopping point for discussions of a lazy river in the past. Great Bend Rec Aquatics, Enrichment, and Marketing Director Megan Hammeke said that would not be an issue with the design presented, unlike at other pools, such as Hays.
"You have spots where you can't see the water, so every time you can't see, you have to place a lifeguard there," she said. "This one would only take two lifeguards, probably; one at each corner."
New slide features and diving boards
The rendering reviewed Monday included a fly-time slide that is approximately 31 feet tall, and another 25-foot slide with its own containment area. With a deep end reaching 13 feet in depth, diving boards could be installed at one meter and three meters. One drawback is the fly-time slide and diving boards cannot be used at the same time because swimmers using the slide will be propelled into the diving area. Councilmembers and Hammeke agreed this is not ideal, but expanding the swim area to allow for both activities would mean a higher budget. Other pools, including Hoisington's city pool, which does not allow diving during free swim time, have made similar accommodations for safe use of the water.
8-lane swimming area
The main swimming area would begin at five feet in depth and reach a maximum of 13 feet to allow for safe diving. The laned area presented is 25 meters long and would feature eight lanes, which would make the pool ideal for hosting youth and even collegiate swim meets. The deep end would actually be smaller in size than the existing pool, but still offer more swimmable space.
"Our deep end now is actually not that deep because it comes up so shallow, so quick, which is why we don't have the diving boards now for safety issues," Hammeke said. "It's actually more swimmable space, even if it's smaller.
Zero entry pool and slides
For smaller swimmers or those with disabilities, a zero-depth zone would allow for safe entrance and wading in the water. The rendering included several slides in the zero-depth zone that could be used by swimmers of all age, size, and ability. The slides would be accompanied by a soft landing zone at the bottom of the pool.
Additional play features
Hammeke said one of her biggest concerns is accommodating middle school and pre-teen swimmers - the group that visits the people every day. Not in the renderings is a basketball hoop and rock-climbing wall.
Shade would be offered at various locations throughout the facility, including in a spectator area near the laned section of the pool
The water-balloon feature is underutilized right now. Several people suggested turning that area into a space that could be rented during business hours.
"Currently, we don't do a birthday party package during the day," Hammeke said. "We rent out for private parties at night, but we are constantly asked by people who want to do birthday parties throughout the day. I think that's a spot we're missing that other pools have that we could come up with some extra income for the pool by utilizing that space a different way."
The council took no action on the first set of renderings during Monday's work session. The Pool Planning Committee will continue to look at ways to offer the public the biggest bang for its buck ahead of any final decisions.