The Ontario Aquatic Center could be getting a redesign and a new location, although the change will put off the opening of a new pool by at least a year.
After winning significant funding to pave the way for the construction of the long-awaited pool, Ontario Recreation District project managers got conditional approval from the Ontario City Council to explore building the pool next to the splash park at Lions Park.
That frees up the original site to be converted as an indoor gymnasium.
The district had planned to demolish the shuttered Aquatic Center building in Lions Park for the new outdoor pool. However, the bids for demolition came in more than $500,000 more than expected, according to Andrew Maeda, district director.
During a Tuesday, Nov. 12, presentation to the Ontario Council, Maeda said project leaders had estimated a cost of $230,000 to take down the shuttered Aquatic Center. Bids recently came at over $750,000, well over $500,000. Maeda said that would have pushed the project cost above the $3.5 million cap to build the pool by May 2025.
He said demolition costs came in so high partly because the district would have had to hire an electrician to conduct the electrical demolition and a plumber to handle the plumbing aspects. Other complexities included covering the pool inside the Aquatic Center when they began taking down the building.
He said that the plan now is to convert the pool building into a gymnasium and construct a pool near the splash pad. The indoor gym, according to Maeda, is in the final phase of Ontario’s parks master plan.
Dan Cummings, Ontario city manager, said he would survey the park land to prepare a property line adjustment since the city owns the land. He said this would save the recreation district money on land survey costs. That boundary shift would require council approval, to be considered as soon as Dec. 10.
Cummings said the city and the district could handle the process as they did for the splash park, when a deed was approved only after the project started.
Maeda said the total construction costs for the pool would be around $3 million. He said once construction begins, people could be swimming in the pool by May 2026.
“If our timeline goes the way it goes,” Megan Cook, board chair of the Ontario Recreation District, said, “the district could break ground by summer next year.”
The city council approved the recreation district to complete the survey and return to the council to move the project forward.
Councilor Ken Hart also said he wants to let the public to weigh in on the change.
News tip? Send your information to Steven Mitchell at [email protected].
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