Committee recommends consultant for aquatic project

The Aquatics Facility Committee has recommended the Cape Girardeau City Council hire a Colorado-based firm to plan for an indoor aquatic center in Cape Girardeau.

Committee members made their unanimous selection Thursday after hearing from three consulting groups over a two-day period.

They chose Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative of Denver and its partners: recreation consulting firm Ballard King and aquatic design firm Waters Edge.

The six-member, joint committee of the Cape Girardeau city government and the local public school district have been tasked with developing plans for the facility.

The committee consists of city manager Scott Meyer, Mayor Bob Fox and business leader Kathy Bertrand representing the city; and Cape Girardeau School District superintendent Neil Glass, school board president Kyle McDonald and swimming enthusiast Clay Hahs representing the school district.

Meyer said the committee chose the Ohlson Lavoie group because they were �a better fit for what we need.� Meyer said the committee thought the consulting group could plan for a facility that would stay within budget.

�I am very budget driven,� the city manager said.

David Sprague of Ohlson Lavoie has indicated the project could be done in phases, if necessary, to meet budget constraints.

Meyer said planning for any new aquatic center must take into account the two local hospitals have therapy pools and Southeast Missouri State University has a recreational pool.

Committee members liked the consulting group�s focus on designing a facility with an eye toward saving on operating costs, Meyer said.

Ohlson Lavoie also said the planning process would include concept design.

The city will pay for the consulting work. But Meyer said Friday the exact cost of that work has yet to be determined and may not be known when the council considers hiring the consultant at Thursday�s meeting.

Meyer said the council may be asked to authorize the city manager to negotiate the contract.

Voters in April extended the parks/stormwater sales tax, which will generate money for several projects including $6 million for an indoor aquatic facility.

But city officials have said the city and school district may construct a $12 million facility, which would be dependent upon added funding from the school system and perhaps other partners.

Committee member Glass said the committee liked the idea of including a conceptual design as part of the planning process.

�It certainly got our attention,� he said.

Glass said the committee was impressed with the consulting group�s experience in putting together partnerships for funding construction and operation of aquatic facilities.

The committee is interested in looking at additional partnerships for the project, he said.

Glass said the goal is to complete the planning by December or January.

�We�re ready to get this started,� he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641