This week the Unalaska City Council agreed to pay just over $2 million for a renovation to the city's Aquatics Center.
In what promises to be a comprehensive remodel of the municipal pool, the project is slated to begin at the end of April and keep the pool complex closed through July.
The city's parks, culture and recreation director, D. Tyrell McGirt, says that the pool complex will be closed for about three months, but the plan is to have the project done and pool reopened in time for the high school swim season.
During last night's discussion, no residents spoke during the public hearing portion. McGirt participated in the discussion via phone and outlined the scope and rational behind the project. He said the school district originally built the pool over 30 years ago, but in the ensuing years the city took over its management and opened the complex up for public use.
McGirt says these days, the facility is open more frequently than ever and getting heavy use by the whole community. In the coming remodel job, the sauna will be enlarged - he said it is the complex's most popular attraction.
City manager David Martinson said the council had a couple of options - either increase the budget for the project or forgo it altogether at this time and go back to the drawing board in designing a future remodel.
The council decided it's worth an extra $984,000 to complete the remodel job now. Council member Gregory said construction prices are only going up and it would cost more in the end to wait.
Council members Frank Kelty and Zoya Johnson were the only dissenting voices during the discussion. Both were attending the meeting via teleconference. Johnson said she felt the council was misled in 2013 when it voted to proceed with the project based on the cost estimate at the time. Johnson said initially she would not support the renovation project, but the final vote to do the complete project passed five to zero.
Council member Kelty made a motion to remove two of the suggested additions to the project, a $50,000 dollar sound system and a $16,000 ice machine. But his motion did not garner a second.
The Aquatics Center renovation will include a refinishing of the pool deck; installation of a card lock door entry and camera surveillance systems; making the facility compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act; locker room additions and remodeling and enlargement of the sauna.
Those interested in more detail about the project can see McGirt's presentation included in the March 8 council meeting package, available on the city's website.
