After spending years working on a plan to improve the aquatics facility in Bremen, the Park Dept. officially recommended this concept plan to the town council. If the design is approved, an architect will draft a design for the project with the intent of going to bid early next year and starting construction in late summer or early fall of 2023.
Article submitted by Angela Cornell, The Pilot News Staff Writer
BREMEN—After over two years of discussions between the park department, town council, and school, Bremen is beginning to finalize their plan to renovate the aquatic facility in the park. Since the park pool has been part of the Bremen tradition for well over half a century, this has been a point of passionate debate since the subject was first brought to the table in 2019 after the pool received superstructure damage during the 2018 flood.
Estimates at that time indicated that to just fix the structure would require over $1 million. That did not include bringing the pool up to ADA accessibility standards, installing new mechanicals, or any extras that the town would like to add. “I would guess you’re north of that now, just to get exactly what you have today, but functioning,” said Park Superintendent Brian Main. He later estimated that it would cost more to bring the current pool up to standard than it would to completely redo the facility.
$2.1 million in Stellar Community Grant funding has been set aside for this project. However, with inflation and increasing manufacturing costs, the town will need $2.7 million to complete the splash pad and pool combination that the park board recommends after taking into account responses from two local surveys and public input during park board meetings. “We looked at several other options, but for a variety of reasons, obviously, with a lot of work to put it, this is what was recommended,” said Main.
The park board’s recommendation is based on several factors, like research on other towns who have built similar aquatic centers in recent years, the increased challenge of hiring lifeguards, the school’s willingness to open up their pool for public swims and swimming lessons, as well as the demographics of pool users in recent years.
Mike Reese, a landscaping engineer from Troyer Group, told the council that of all the options that the Park Dept. considered, the hybrid option received the most approval from the surveys. However, since it costs far more than the budgeted amount, Bremen will have to come up with some way to make up the remaining $700,000 by seeking additional grants or corporate sponsors. “If there’s enough people in the community who are passionate about this option, then we should be able to fund it,” said Main.
Park Superintendent Brian Main mentioned that if they remove the pool all together and only install a splash pad, the cost for the project will be $2.2 million. This is not the park board’s recommendation to the town council, but is an option on the table.
The potential options regarding the splash pad and the pool were the subject of a lengthy discussion during the council meeting on Monday, April 25. During that conversation, the cost of the project and the likelihood of bringing in users from out of town were cited as some of the reasons for putting in the highest possible quality splash pad. Plus, it would allow the park to keep the aquatic center open for more than two months out of the year and would encourage a more active lifestyle among minors, which is a Blue Zone goal discussed by Marshall County Crossroads.
Another reason for putting in a good splash pad was that it has the potential of drawing in older children, ranging in age from nine to 14, an age group that could potentially be lost otherwise. “That’s basically a playground with water.” Main said, describing one of the splash pad design possibilities. “I talked to my nephew this weekend who’s 15. I showed him a picture… He said, ‘I’d play on that. I’d show up to that with my younger siblings.’”
Town Attorney Tony Wagner expressed concern about the hybrid option. However, he believes that it is the best option for the town. “I think the reticence is just coming from, we need about a million and a half more dollars in order to give people the pool that they’re thinking of. They’re going to get this pool and say, ‘Where’s the beef?’ and it’s really a situation where we’re saying, ‘This is exactly how much this grant plus all of our extra money—this is what it got!’” In the present plan, the pool is going to be a zero-entry 20-foot by 30-foot with a maximum depth of four or five feet. Even though the proposed pool is smaller and shallower than the current pool, it will still allow swim lessons for levels one through three.
Since a majority of the community expressed a desire for a pool/splash pad hybrid, Main does not see the town removing the pool from the plan. “It’ll be interesting moving forward. Obviously, the aquatic committee and the park board made this recommendation to pursue a hybrid facility. But now we’re dealing with the price tag that’s attached to that,” Main explained to the press.
Since a decision has to be made by the end of May, this topic will be discussed at the council meetings next month. Bremen may also hold a special meeting to discuss the town’s options, should the council’s regularly scheduled meetings not provide enough time to discuss the issue. “We know this is a controversial topic,” said Bremen Town Councilman Michael Leman, who serves as the council liaison on the park board. “This has been exhausting. You can go down every path and get down rabbit holes… the bottom line is, what does the town, what does the community want and need?”
