Centennial Park Public Pool & Splash Pad Conceptual Development Study
Plymouth Public Pool Background Information Centennial Park in Plymouth is home to the city’s public pool facility and many other recreational amenities. The public pool was built in 1967 and has been a favorite summer recreational venue for residents for many decades. The pool received some upgrades in 2016 that were mostly cosmetic, but much of the pool materials and equipment are as originally constructed. As such, the public pool is approaching its life span before major renovations would be required. This has led to an increase in repairs and higher maintenance costs. The pool has maintained consistent revenue over the last five years and an increase in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic forced closure of the pool in 2020. While attendance has been steady, there are recent trends that have impacted outdoor pools. Schools now start in early August, limiting the swimming season for children and also the ability to hire seasonal staff including lifeguards. Other social and recreational trends have also contributed to lower attendance at outdoor pools, including the prevalence of gaming and online entertainment, an increase of multi-income families that have less opportunity to visit a pool, and an increased diversity of aquatic recreational opportunities such as splash pads. The largest expense for the pool is payroll, which comes out to about $43,000 annually and is fairly consistent from year to year. Other expenses include chemicals and utilities, which each come out to be about $10,000 annually. In 2019, the gross income for the pool was approximately $38,000. After expenses, the cost of running the pool facility was about $25,000.
2016 2017 2018 2019
Lessons Revenue $11,030 $12,460 $10,670 $15,030
Admissions Revenue $18,307 $18,802 $18,506 $20,802
Revenue from the pool comes mostly from lessons and admissions. 2019 saw an increase in both income areas.
Dr. Susan Bardwell Aquatics Center In 2012 the Plymouth High School pool was closed and a group of people dedicated to reestablishing a competition pool in Plymouth started the planning process. After a process that involved the funding, support, and collaboration of 17 different agencies or groups, the facility broke ground in the summer of 2018 and opened its doors in the fall of 2019. The aquatics center is a 27,000 square foot indoor facility that includes a ten lane competition pool, two diving boards, three family changing rooms, and seating for over 435 people. The center is used by the city, Plymouth Community School Corporation, and Ancilla College for competition and educational activities. While the Bardwell Aquatics Center has a different use than the outdoor public pool, there is an increased cost to the city to fund operation and maintenance of both facilities. Between the new aquatics center and the rising operation and maintenance costs of the public pool, combined with lower revenue from the outdoor pool and a shorter outdoor swimming season, there is major concern with being able to keep the Plymouth Public Pool open.
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Centennial Park - Existing Public Pool Facility
Case Studies: Oak Brook Park Splash Island - Oak Brook, IL The Splash Island features a splash pad for young kids that includes bubblers, jets, and aquatic animal structures. The facility also zero depth entry pool, slides, interactive features, dumping buckets, jets, and other spray features that are for the whole family. The Oak Brook Park Splash Island was constructed in 2013 and cost approximately $900,000. The parks annual budget for Splash Island is divided based on the following: Chemicals: $6,000 Water: $2,500 Maintenance: $10,000 Furniture/Deck Decor: $1,500 Splash Island typically generates $30,000 in annual fees as revenue, with additional revenue generated from other facilities and admissions at the park.
Case Studies: Como Regional Park Pool - Saint Paul, MN The Como Regional Park Pool includes a 25-yard, six lane lap pool, two basketball hoops, children’s activity pool with family slide, one-meter diving board, two diving platforms, aquatic climbing wall, aquatic zip line, and a 400-foot lazy river. The original budget for the construction project was $6 million, however, the city ended up committing $7.3 million for the construction and another $1.7 million for the design and engineering. Unanticipated and massive soil corrections ran up the initial budget, and cost roughly $750,000 of the $1.3 million over budget costs. The facility charges daily admissions fees of $6.00 for small children, $7.00 for adolescents and adults, $4.00 for non-swimming deck fees, and a $24 family admission up to 5 members with $4.00 for each additional member. Infants under 1 year old are free. Yearly membership are available and range from a $210.00 children membership for residents, to $650.00 family membership for non-residents, and allow access to the other public aquatics facilities in Saint Paul. In 2019, the daily admissions attendance was about 49,000 and the membership attendance was about 7,800. The revenue generated from daily admissions was approximately $275,000, and while membership revenue is substantial, since the memberships allow access to all public aquatics facilities, so there is no direct membership revenue for Como Regional Park Pool alone. In 2019 , concessions brought in about $115,000 in revenue, however, the cost of running the concessions was far greater than that of the generated revenue, so going forward the city has decided that contracting out concessions to a private entity would be more cost effective. The aquatic center is quite large and requires a high number of staff and lifeguards to monitor all areas of the pool facility. During a normal day open swim time, there are approximately 40 staff on site either on duty or awaiting rotation. Staffing takes up about 85% of the expense budget, with the other 15% going towards materials and office supplies.
Case Studies: Rose Park Adventure Cove Aquatic Center - Abilene, TX Rose Park Adventure Cover Aquatic Center includes a leisure pool with a zero-depth beach entry, a lazy river, a pair of water slides, and a covered patio. The facility has been designed with the future in mind, providing space to eventually add features and expand the lazy river. The Adventure Cove was financed through a $6 million bond, and cost just over that budget due to reconstruction and enlargement of the existing pipe system. The approximate annual budget for the entirety of the Adventure Cove is about a half million, and this budget covers everything from maintenance, concessions, chemicals, and payroll. Payroll takes up about half of the overall budget. The Adventure Cove charges $7 or less for a day pass, and double mark ups concession prices. This revenue generation ends up to be about an 80% cost recovery for the entire budget on an annual basis.
Case Studies: Northside Family Aquatics Facility - Spokane, WA The Northside Family Aquatics Facility is the smaller counter part to the Southside Aquatics Family Facility in Spokane County. The facility features 20-ft, 145-ft, and 200-ft water slides for various age groups, a diving board, water jets, lemon drop buckets, a 12ft deep end with room for lap swimming and a zero-depth activity pool. The Northside Aquatic Facility was designed in 2004, consturcted in 2005 , and opened in 2006. The overall initial construction cost was approximately $2 million, and included the parking lot, pool building, landscaping, and pool facility itself. The project was funded from the Board of County Commissioners and a Real Estate Excise Tax. The aquatic center is currently in the midsts of an expansion project, where roughly $1.5 million is being utilized to add a water slides and a water slide tower, an expansion of the pool deck, and a recirculating/heated splash pad. In 2019, the expenses between full-time and season staff salaries, as well as maintenance and operations, was approximately $288,350. The revenue generated from programs, admissions, and concession sales was approximately $122,310.
Precedent Images
Basketball
Climbing Wall
Zip Line Lazy River
Diving Boards
Water Playground
Zero Depth Entry
Splash Pad Elements
Swim Lesson Area
Shade Features
Obstacle Courses
Water Slides
Centennial Park Public Pool & Splash Pad Concept A
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Concept A Summary 1
Splash Pad
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Zero Depth Entry
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Play Pool
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3’ Deep Swim Lesson Pool
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Obstacle Course
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Climbing Wall
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Deep End with Slide & Diving Boards
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Zip Line/ Two Lane Lap Pool
This concept provides a variety of new and exciting aquatic activities that appeals to families and children of all ages. A splash pad and zero-depth entry play pool appeal to younger children, while an obstacle course, slide, diving boards, climbing wall, and zip line offer play opportunities for older children. A 3’ deep pool can be used for swim lessons for younger children, and also used for activities such as water basketball and volleyball. In addition, the zip line pool can be used for two lap lanes when the zip line is not in use.
Concept Cost Estimate Design/Construction Annual Expenses Maintenance Chemicals Water/Utilities Furniture/Decor Seasonal Staff Total Annual Expenses
DesignConstruction
CONCEPT A $4 ‐ 5 million $ 15,000.00 $ 15,000.00 $ 12,000.00 $ 2,500.00 $ 100,000.00 $ 144,500.00 CONCEPT B $2 ‐ 2.5 million
Centennial Park Public Pool & Splash Pad Concept B
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Concept B Summary 1
Splash Pad
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3’ Deep Swim Lesson Pool
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Play Pool
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Zero Depth Entry
CONCEPT Aat the This concept updates the recreational amenities Design/Construction aquatics facility to reflect recent trends$4 ‐ 5 million to help attract more Annual Expenses users while keeping operational costs low. The facility primarily Maintenance $ 15,000.00 targets families and younger or elementary school aged Chemicals 15,000.00 children with a splash pad $ and play pool. It also includes a Water/Utilities $ 12,000.00 3’ deep pool that can be used for swim lessons for younger Furniture/Decor $ 2,500.00 children that wouldn’t use $ the Bardwell Aquatics Center. Seasonal Staff 100,000.00 Total Annual Expenses
$ 144,500.00
Concept Cost Estimate DesignConstruction Annual Expenses Maintenance Chemicals Water/Utilities Furniture/Decor Seasonal Staff Total Annual Expenses
CONCEPT B $2 ‐ 2.5 million $ 10,000.00 $ 10,000.00 $ 7,000.00 $ 1,500.00 $ 50,000.00 $ 78,500.00
Centennial Park Public Pool & Spla
ash Pad Conceptual Rendering