City continues work on new pool study

Julius Boehm Pool renovation and a pool feasibility study, issues that have been quiet for several months, will make a brief appearance at the Issaquah City Council next month.

The city's Park Board recently recommended two options identified in the pool feasibility study, Option B+ and Option C, to city administration for consideration, which brought the issue to the April 16 Council Services and Operations committee meeting.

Members recommended adding the two options to the city's long-term Capital Improvements Plan for 2010-15, which requires City Council approval.

Addition of the options to the CIP will be on next month's Council agenda.

But a recommendation isn't necessarily a guarantee that those will be the pursued options.

"Those are just preferred recommendations at this point," said Jen Newton, recreation supervisor for the city's Aquatics department. "It could all change in 10 years."

Consultants from Ballard King & Associates, the group who performed the pool feasibility study, detailed the two options during a City Council meeting last November.

Option B+ would be a renovation of the existing Julius Boehm Pool facility. A larger, eight-lane lap pool would be constructed at the site, and after receiving various minor upgrades to extend its life, the current pool would remain as a smaller, leisure pool for recreational swimmers. Spectator seating and a birthday party room would also be constructed. This choice would cost $20.3 million, with an annual subsidy of about $120,000.

Option C would be the construction of an entirely new aquatics facility at an off-site location. The services offered would be largely the same as Option B Plus, but with the addition of an outdoor sprayground and spa. This option would cost $31.7 million, with an annual subsidy of approximately $150,000 to $200,000.

Consultants said the most likely location for this option would be at Central Park Pad 4 in the Issaquah Highlands.

Because the feasibility study is still in the early stages, questions such as how a renovation or construction project would be paid for still remain.

Financing possibilities identified in the November council meeting include: a public bond issue in 2010, securing grants, partnerships between the school district, swim teams and other pool users, establishing a Parks & Recreation Service Area special facilities district and selling naming rights.

None of these avenues will be explored, however, until a preferred pool option has been selected, Newton wrote in an e-mail.

The pool feasibility study began late last summer with a public input period that went until late November. Community members were invited to public meetings and open houses about the project, and a telephone survey of about 300 people was done.

For more information about Julius Boehm Pool, go to www.ci.issaquah.wa.us.

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