Stakeholder survey is next step
About 20 area residents attended a meeting March 30 to learn more and share their opinions of adding an indoor swimming pool to the Greene County Community Center.
The meeting was the first step in a feasibility study requested by the Jefferson park and recreation board. The board is using $13,300 of an $845,000 gift from the Rory Autenreith trust fund for the study, which is being done by OPN Architects.
JPRD director Denny Hammen opened the meeting, noting that the receipt of the Autenreith donation, which is earmarked for the community center, sparked discussion of an indoor pool. He said the donation wouldn’t be enough for a pool, but the board agreed now is the time to find out what building and maintaining an indoor pool would cost. Once that’s learned, the board can decide whether to start fundraising for a pool or find other uses for the Autenreith funds.
OPN Architects is partnering on the feasibility study with aquatics planning firm Counsilman-Hunsaker. George Deines of Counsilman-Hunsaker led the meeting.
Deines explained three steps in the process: a needs assessment; determining program and space requirements; and developing an operations and business plan. Schematic design options, project cost estimates, a list of potential partners in the project, and projections of revenue and operating expenses are all part of the study.
Several people at the meeting, including older attendees, spoke in support of an indoor pool because it would provide a year-round exercise option for people of all ages. There was consensus, though, that a pool had to financially sustainable to be considered successful.
Deines noted that very few pools take in enough operating revenue to meet operating expenses. He said publicly-owned pools are more often regarded as an amenity maintained for the benefit of the community.
Tracy Deal, president of the park and recreation board, answered a question about the future of the existing outdoor pool. “As a board, we feel very strongly we don’t want the outdoor pool to die,” she said.
She said the board wants to know how it can “meet the most needs of the most people in a responsible way.”
Deines and Ken Hagen of OPN are now creating a stakeholder survey that will help determine what direction to go in designing the project. The survey will be available soon on the JPRD Facebook page, at the Greene County Community Center, and other locations.
A conceptual design will be completed in mid-June, with the entire feasibility study completed in late June or early July.
Deal encourages all area residents to answer the survey. “For this to be successful we need people to give their input,” she said. “The more community input, the better.”
