BENTON — City officials toured aquatic centers in Benton and Bryant Friday to gather ideas for possible tweaks to the design of the soon-to-be-built Pine Bluff aquatic center.
Some of the possible tweaks include whether to install a retractable roof and whether to enlarge the design of the therapeutic pool, Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington said.
Pine Bluff City Council members Glen Brown Jr. and Steven Mays also went along on the tour, as well as Parks and Recreation Director April Layher and others.
Pine Bluff’s aquatic center and multi-purpose facility are slated to be built side-by-side at 300 E. 11th Ave. near the Civic Center complex. Nelson Architectural Group Architect Dave Sadler said in January that construction on phase one — the aquatic center — should begin in late spring 2017 or early summer.
The aquatic center is projected to cost roughly $6.5 million. At 29,410 square feet, it is designed to feature 100 parking spaces, an eight-lane swimming pool, a therapeutic pool, seating for 125 people, a party room, dressing rooms and showers.
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Phase two, the multi-purpose center, is projected to cost $8.8 million, though that figure may rise with inflation. At 46,482 square feet, it would feature a gymnasium, walking track, fitness center, children’s gymnasium, two game rooms, an indoor facility for batting practice, a golf simulator, a learning center/computer lab, meeting rooms, a kitchen, dressing rooms and showers.
Pine Bluff voters approved a bond issue and 5/8-cent sales tax to fund the aquatics center and other projects in February 2011. Money to complete the multi-purpose center is being gathered through fund-raisers.
Chris Treat, Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Bryant, said the Pine Bluff officials were visiting the facilities to see what might work in Pine Bluff.
Bryant’s aquatic center features an indoor/outdoor Junior Olympic-length pool and a heated therapy pool. Its multi-purpose center features three full-length basketball courts, a weight room, treadmills and discounted fitness classes.
One piece of advice Treat relayed to Pine Bluff officials was on cost.
“One of the biggest oversights we made [in building the facilities] was we had no plan in place for maintenance,” Treat said.
Bryant has similar facilities to Benton, Conway and Cabot, Treat said, but those cities have parks and recreation budgets twice as large. Thus the Bryant Parks and Recreation Department has to generate roughly half of the annual $2.4 million operating cost of its aquatic center and multipurpose center.
Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Department Athletic Director Thomas Peters said he was taking notes on how Bryant maintained its baseball fields, including work to re-do backstops and fill in infields with new soil. He also asked them how they acquired funding.
The multi-purpose center at Bryant was busy Friday with hundreds of young people for a basketball tournament of home-schooled children. Mays called the participation “unbelievable” and a testament to the unity of the community.