Aquatic Center begins planning renovation

By Nicole Donner

The Aquatic Center is preparing for a year of improvements and upgrades with several additions to both the indoor and outdoor pool.

After winning over the board with a plea for new gutters and a dome to cover the outdoor pool during winter months, construction plans are just beginning to be laid out for approval.

Aquatics Supervisor Brandon Drawz is proud of how long the almost 30-year-old pool has lasted but realizes it’s time for some improvements.

“Literally, the gutters are starting to fail, rules [about pool measurements] have changed and there are more facilities we have to compete with out there,” said Drawz. “For being a 30-year-old facility that hasn’t had a lot of updates to it, time has just caught up with the pool in many ways.

“The experts tell me, and this would be the guys who build swimming pools, it’s at the end of its useful lifespan.”

Changes include installing a new gutter system, deepening the shallow end of the pool by more than three feet, using a dome structure to cover the pool and make it available through out the year, and changing to a new scoreboard system with a shorter set-up time.

The board is not as energy efficient, but Drawz thinks the time and labor will be worth it. “A third of the project’s cost is energy efficient measures that will allow us to operate all year around for the same amount of money that we operate on in about two and a half months,” said Drawz.

The dome will be one of the biggest time savers. Typically shutting down from September until June, it usually takes three months for the pool to be back online, but with the new system, the pool can be year-round.

This opens the door for more therapy, swimming and water aerobic classes that won’t have to compete with the competitive teams that occupy the “prime time” spot.
The dome will have a life span of 18 to 20 years.

He’s keeping the students and community in mind as this project moves along slowly.
Despite tight financial times for the school, Drawz is thankful for the opportunity to maintain the aquatic center in its growing age.

“I know it’s a tough thing to support. People are going, ‘Hey, why are we cutting days, salaries [and] why are we not hiring faculty members?’ I understand that argument. Absolutely,” said Drawz. “What I also understand is that in the end, it saves us so much more money to the college and the community. We’re actually going to save those jobs.”

Drawz believes the construction on this $1.5 million renovation will begin this September at the earliest and hopes for it to be mostly completed by late spring next year.