POOLS TO SPRAYGROUNDS TO AQUATIC CENTERS

Just east of our neighborhood, the City of Rowlett is planning a $1 billion development that would bring an eight-acre man-made lagoon complete with a sandy beach and options for sailing. It’s the type of recreational paradise that will make Tietze pool look like a hole in the ground to some neighborhood families (no counting for nostalgia that will keep others swimming close to home).

The City of Dallas has long tried to compete with the private sector in offering refreshing recreation. In the 1920-50s, it built dozens of pools, making the cool waters that were once only accessible to the wealthy something attainable for an average family. In the 2000s, it built spraygrounds that offer a more water park-inspired experience than a traditional public pool. Now, it has set its sights on aquatic centers.

Part neighborhood pool that can offer the traditional swimming lessons and camps; part water park with slides and other fun features, the new designs are hoping to capture families looking for all the bells and whistles while also filling a basic community need. The city has plenty of money to sink into the effort, thanks to the sale of Elgin B. Robertson Park Lake Ray Hubbard, which is funding most of the $52.8 million makeover.

In our neighborhood, that includes a $2.6 million facelift for Tietze Park and a $5 million overhaul of Samuell-Grand.

Samuell-Grand will soon be a ha- ven from the heat, with a lazy river, children’s pool and a waterslide. Expect an eight-lane lap pool for swim lessons as well as a shade structure and a 4,000-square-foot bathhouse with a concession stand. City officials expect it will draw 45,000 swimmers a year, who will each pay an admission fee of $7-$9 (exact price to be decided). Plans calls for the groundbreaking on the new water playground to take place in May 2017, with construction to be completed in one year.

Final designs are still being developed by Kimley-Horn and Associates and Quimby McCoy Preservation Architecture, but plans for Tiezte Park’s pool revealed in March show a slightly larger pool with 3-4 swimming lanes that range from 3.5-6-feet deep, and also a 16-inch tube slide. The little swimmers would get a zero-entry pool and families could hang out under the 20-by-30-foot shade structure. The city is doing everything possible to preserve but enhance the original infrastructure, including the 1934 stone pavilion that abuts the current pool.

The final design is expected by the end of the year, after the city has had ample time to hear from residents about what they’d like to see in their pool plans. The designers hope to begin construction in May 2017 before the newly refurbished Tietze Neighborhood Family Aquatic Center opens in May 2019. At that time, the city predicts admission will remain reasonable at $3-$5.