photo by: Bremen Keasey

Lawrence residents hold signs during the Lawrence City Commission's meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in support of keeping the Outdoor Aquatic Center at its current size and configuration.

After a flood of public comments, including a petition asking the city to change its mind on a redesign of Lawrence’s Outdoor Aquatic Center, city commissioners have voiced support for a plan that would repair the pool’s current configuration and cost the city less money.

Commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday directed city staff to further develop an option that would repair structural issues with the pool and keep the current layout of the pool instead of moving forward with a different plan approved back in August that would have added new features but shrunk the total area for swimming. At the time, commissioners voted to approve that $6.1 million plan but asked for additional information before a final approval, including finding out how much it would cost to renovate and repair the facility.

In a presentation, staff said the probable cost of repairing the structural issues of the pool is estimated to be about $3.6 million, with a complete renovation to the center totaling an estimated $5.8 million. Those costs include planned renovations to the other buildings at the center like the bathhouse, a second waterslide, additional shade structures and about $1.2 million in design services and other “soft costs.”

Luis Ruiz, the director of the Parks and Recreation department, said repairing the pool would save about $300,000 to $600,000 in the budget that covers the pool infrastructure as compared to the previously approved concept.

Some of the renovations that would take place with this plan include removing and replacing the entire pool deck and reconstructing the entirety of the zero-depth portion of the pool. Jeff Bartley, an engineer with Water’s Edge, said the renovations would extend the life of the pool for another 20 years.

The other option was the “preferred concept” approved in August. That design would keep the existing deep dive pool, a 25-meter section of the lap pool and the waterslide and plunge pool on the complex’s west side, while adding new features like a lazy river, splash pad and shallow pool. The total water recreation area would have been 16,000 square feet — about a 3,000-square-foot reduction from the pool’s current layout — and includes the 2,300-square-foot splash pad, which further reduces the space to swim.

Commissioners asked what the lifespan of the “preferred concept” design would be. Hartley said the added features would have a 30- to 40-year lifespan, but because it would maintain some of the current layout, the existing portions of the pool would still have about a 20-year lifespan. The need to stay within the budget constraints meant that lifespan was the “extent of what we could do,” Ruiz said. For example, he said a full replacement of the pool infrastructure for the current configuration has an estimated cost of around $15 million to $20 million.

Members of the public expressed concern over the fact the swimmable space in the pool would shrink, and more than 1,700 people signed a petition asking the city to reconsider the approved design of the pool, as the Journal-World reported.

Holly Krebs, the organizer of the petition who spoke during public comment, asked for a show of hands of members in the audience who had signed the petition. Several dozen raised their hands as she reminded the commissioners of the requests, which included not reducing the square footage of the pool, fixing the bathhouse and not removing lap lanes.

More than a dozen public commenters shared their reasons for wanting to keep the pool in its current configuration. One commenter said the preferred concept would remove the “heart of the pool” with its open swim space. Others spoke about how important the 50-meter lap lanes were crucial to maintaining their fitness or helping them rehab after injuries. One said a lazy river felt more apt for an amusement park, and another said she “doesn’t want a water park to replace a swimming pool.” Several criticized the public engagement process, and one young public commenter named Emerson shared a video made with a group of other kids who said they thought the pool was fun as is.

Now that the commission has directed staff on what to do, there is still one more approval that the commission will need to give before the project can move forward to the bidding stage. Ruiz said the final pool option would likely be back before the commission during a meeting in November.

The city expects to submit the project for construction bids in April 2025. Construction is expected to start in mid-summer 2025, and the city hopes to hold a grand opening for the center in summer 2026.