An indoor pool for community use has long been on Maumelle’s wishlist and the idea of one has again sprang up, this time at Center on the Lake.
Nicole Vogler., the city’s Director of Senior Services, said a meeting was held last week to hash out plans and form committees and focus groups.
But, the idea of putting a pool at the Center on the Lake is as old as the building itself.
“The idea to possibly add an indoor therapy pool was considered when Center on the Lake was designed,” she wrote in an email to ArkansasNewsroom.com. “It was not part of the project due to cost, but the building architect kept the possibility for a future addition in mind when the center was designed.”
The facility would be simple by design.
“I envision a modest indoor, therapy pool that will be aide to our 50 plus aging population for years to come,” she said, “and be as close to possible as net neutral for expenses vs. income”
As the project is still in its nascent stages, there’s no renderings yet but Vogler said, “It would be preferable to be attached/near Center on the Lake, but no location has been determined.”
The location would then guide the design. There’s a multitude of indoor, municipal pool facilities in and around central Arkansas. Among the largest is the Bill Harmon Recreation Center in Sherwood, above, which features a competition pool for the Sherwood Sharks swim program to the more modest facility that is part of North Little Rock’s Patrick Henry Hays Senior Center, below.
Vogler said other facilities have been looked at, “informally” but going forward looking around would be part of the indoor therapy pool study.
When an indoor pool had been previously discussed in Maumelle, one idea floated, we’re sorry, was to partner with a local healthcare facility to share costs.
Vogler said, “a public/private partnership has not been ruled out.”
Serving on the executive committee are Mayor Caleb Norris, city economic development director Courtney Dunn, staff from the city’s planning Department, Fire Marshall Scott Eaton, Cindy Milazzo and Vogler.
There’s two focus groups, with one featuring board members from Counting on Each other and included Anne Moreo, Rick Spugnardi, Willa Black Sanders and LaDonna Brown.
While the second focus group included Jan Bullington, Norman Milner, Jenny Corbusier, Lane Phelps, Russell Gottschalk and Phil Griffey.
Vogler said that a consultant, George Deines Study Director with Counsilman-Hunsaker Aquatics for Life, would arrange a meeting with the executive committee in a “couple of weeks” to “discuss designs and costs based on focus group feedback.”
Vogler indeed, “this study is not a guarantee that a pool will be built. The study will determine possible layouts, locations and costs. We have said for years that we cannot build an indoor therapy pool for years to come due to costs. identifying the costs may bring us a step closer to determining the reality of an indoor therapy pool.”
So the smell of chlorine isn’t quite in the air yet, but things are promising.
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Into the Deep (end)
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An indoor pool for community use has long been on Maumelle’s wishlist and the idea of one has again sprang up, this time at Center on the Lake.
Nicole Vogler., the city’s Director of Senior Services, said a meeting was held last week to hash out plans and form committees and focus groups.
But, the idea of putting a pool at the Center on the Lake is as old as the building itself.
“The idea to possibly add an indoor therapy pool was considered when Center on the Lake was designed,” she wrote in an email to ArkansasNewsroom.com. “It was not part of the project due to cost, but the building architect kept the possibility for a future addition in mind when the center was designed.”
The facility would be simple by design.
“I envision a modest indoor, therapy pool that will be aide to our 50 plus aging population for years to come,” she said, “and be as close to possible as net neutral for expenses vs. income”
As the project is still in its nascent stages, there’s no renderings yet but Vogler said, “It would be preferable to be attached/near Center on the Lake, but no location has been determined.”
The location would then guide the design. There’s a multitude of indoor, municipal pool facilities in and around central Arkansas. Among the largest is the Bill Harmon Recreation Center in Sherwood, above, which features a competition pool for the Sherwood Sharks swim program to the more modest facility that is part of North Little Rock’s Patrick Henry Hays Senior Center, below.
Vogler said other facilities have been looked at, “informally” but going forward looking around would be part of the indoor therapy pool study.
When an indoor pool had been previously discussed in Maumelle, one idea floated, we’re sorry, was to partner with a local healthcare facility to share costs.
Vogler said, “a public/private partnership has not been ruled out.”
Serving on the executive committee are Mayor Caleb Norris, city economic development director Courtney Dunn, staff from the city’s planning Department, Fire Marshall Scott Eaton, Cindy Milazzo and Vogler.
There’s two focus groups, with one featuring board members from Counting on Each other and included Anne Moreo, Rick Spugnardi, Willa Black Sanders and LaDonna Brown.
While the second focus group included Jan Bullington, Norman Milner, Jenny Corbusier, Lane Phelps, Russell Gottschalk and Phil Griffey.
Vogler said that a consultant, George Deines Study Director with Counsilman-Hunsaker Aquatics for Life, would arrange a meeting with the executive committee in a “couple of weeks” to “discuss designs and costs based on focus group feedback.”
Vogler indeed, “this study is not a guarantee that a pool will be built. The study will determine possible layouts, locations and costs. We have said for years that we cannot build an indoor therapy pool for years to come due to costs. identifying the costs may bring us a step closer to determining the reality of an indoor therapy pool.”
So the smell of chlorine isn’t quite in the air yet, but things are promising.