Aquatics committee hears final consulting candidates

The Cape Girardeau City Council could hire a consulting group as soon as next week as planning continues for an indoor aquatics center.

The Aquatics Facility Committee heard from the final two consulting groups Wednesday and will make a recommendation to the council, parks and recreation director Julia Jones said.

Committee members heard from Jacobs/Ballard King group and the Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative/Ballard King/Waters Edge group. On Tuesday, they heard from the Incite Design Studio/Counsilman-Hunsaker/SWT Design group.

Ballard King's Darin Barr participated in both presentations Wednesday.

Barr said the recreation consulting firm could provide an independent market analysis. "We will look at operational costs," he told the advisory committee.

On average, 16 to 17 percent of the population uses aquatic facilities, Barr said. Of those, only 6.8 percent are frequent users. Another 40.5 percent are occasional users while 52.7 percent are infrequent users, he said.

Mike Pratl of Jacobs, a St. Louis planning, architectural and engineering firm, said the planning effort needs to consider a number of factors, including whether the project could be done in phases.

Pratl said planning could look at whether it might be feasible to build the aquatics facility adjacent to the SportsPlex.

The city has pledged $6 million to what Jones said could be a $12 million project. But such a project depends on securing additional funding from the Cape Girardeau School District and perhaps other partners.

Consultants said aquatic facilities can be designed for both recreational uses and competitive swimming.

Pratl said it may be better to build a larger facility than one too small.

The final consulting group discussed the need for good market analysis and proper site selection, as well as focusing on operating costs and diverse uses.

Jeff Bartley with the Waters Edge aquatic design firm said staffing needs must be considered in planning for an aquatic facility. He said it is increasingly difficult to hire and retain lifeguards.

David Sprague of Ohlson Lavoie told committee members the planning process should include concept design.

Cape Girardeau city manager Scott Meyer, a member of the advisory committee, said the biggest concern is the cost of an aquatics facility. "I think our budget here is pretty slim,"he said.

Meyer said he doesn't want to "raise expectations too high."

Sprague said one solution is to build an aquatic facility in phases.

Barr, with the Ballard King firm, said the budget for the project always is "the big elephant in the room."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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