Hunter
09/07/23
There will be a new City Park Pool come 2026.
The Iowa City City Council has voted unanimously to entirely replace the pool, rather than remodel or update the current pool, which opened in 1949.
Consultants for the project said during their presentation to the council that the facility is so badly damaged that replacement is a better decision than repairing it. Among the findings were leaks that result in the pool losing about five inches of water a day. That’s the equivalent of about 55,000 gallons daily.
Andrew Caputo of Williams Architects said that going with the replacement option will give the community a chance to weigh in on what the new and improved City Park Pool will look like.
Last September, over 800 Iowa City residents signed a petition asking for the city officials to reject a proposed design for the pool that would have reduced the nine lap lanes to three.
The Daily Iowan reports Iowa City Director of Park and Recreation Juli Seydell Johnson said the next step in the replacement process for the pool is to start gathering public input. The first public input session will be held sometime this fall and will be followed by several other focus group sessions. Once a design is decided on and finalized, construction is slated to take place from August 2024 to Spring 2026.
Designers will have a roughly $10 million budget to work with.