Jul. 24—LIMA — For the first time in over 80 years, the City will build a pool next to Lima Senior. The new project, known as the 'Lima Community Aquatic Center', will begin construction in 2023. The capital has been fully obtained at $8.9 million. The City of Lima will use $4 million from its general fund, the Lima City Schools have provided $2.4 million and the State has approved $2.4 million for this project.
Officials will now enter into a design contract with Brandstetter Carroll Inc. to begin plans for construction. The pool will be open throughout the year for public swim, swim teams, and schools.
"We had a couple of public meetings but the Mayor and everyone really pushed for the survey," said Nancy Nozik, Division Principal of Brandstetter Carroll Inc. "Our company does this all over the place. If we get 200 responses we are thrilled but we had over 1,000 responses from the City of Lima residents. This shows people are really interested and we got some really good feedback. We did concepts at both the Schoonover pool and the Stadium but the City is intending to move forward at the Lima Stadium location."
It will not only host the community but allow children from all over the city to learn how to swim.
"The schools are interested in putting a retractable roof on the pool so they can teach every third grader how to swim," said Howard Elstro, District 13 Chairman. "We used to have 11 pools and now we have 4, all of which require a membership. Most of our youth do not have access to pools. Lima Senior, the Catholic Schools, Shawnee and Elida all agreed if they had this available in the winter they would enjoy the opportunity to teach them how to swim."
The estimated operating cost is set at $650,000 per year. Officials are working now to obtain a budget for the next portion of the project.
The City of Lima, YMCA of Lima and Lima City Schools have made a memorandum of understanding that all three entities will play a role in the construction and maintenance of the new community pool.
The City of Lima has agreed to be responsible for taxes, assessments and the cost of utilities used by the Aquatic Center. The City will also assist 'if needed' for operational costs and maintenance up to $60,000 annually.
The Lima City Schools have agreed to provide $2.4 million for the retractable roof covering allowing the pool to be used year-round.
The YMCA has agreed to create an annual assessment of cost and maintenance for the pool. The costs will be presented annually by October for the following year. The YMCA will also serve as management for the pool and hold primary responsibility for staffing, scheduling and programming the needs of the facility for overall use.