(This article, reprinted with permission, featuring the new Bexley pool complex, appeared in The Columbus Dispatch on July 12, 2006) 

Bexley to spend $2 million to upgrade pool complex

Project expected to be finished in 2007, won’t raise taxes

Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Dean Narciso
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Not long after the last swimmers leave Bexley’s public swimming pool at the end of summer, a wrecking ball will usher in a new aquatics era.

By a 4-3 vote, Bexley City Council agreed last night to replace the two-pool swimming complex at 2100 Clifton Ave. with a four-pool center with lots of extras.

The current facility has needed extensive maintenance in recent years, officials have said. Last year the city spent $13,500 to repair the walls.

City leaders debated scrapping the facility for new digs in earnest after visiting Reed Road Water Park in Upper Arlington.

Last night, the council approved a similar but smaller water-park complex for Bexley that will cost close to $2 million.

Construction estimates for a new Bexley pool initially were $1.5 million, but last night council members approved an additional $420,000 for upgrades including water slides and a splash pad for younger children, said City Council President Helen MacMurray.

The city has had concerns about other expensive infrastructure projects needed in Bexley, such as a new police station and renovations to Jeffrey Mansion. But the new pool has been a priority with residents, MacMurray said.

"Although we are moneyconscious … the public was just so much in support of this facility. My job is to listen to them."

The complex will include a kiddie pool, an eight-lane competitive pool, a small diving well and a zero-entry main pool with water slides. It also will have a splash pad with fountains.

Not everyone agreed that the upscale complex was needed, however.

"I had concerns over warranties for those (extra) items and the ultimate cost of the pool, and that we could always include those later if the cost of the pool came in lower or from new revenues we’re expecting to generate," said Councilman Matt Lampke, who heads the finance committee.

Construction of the complex will begin the day after Labor Day, Lampke said, in order to open the pool by Memorial Day 2007.

Lampke said the pool won’t raise taxes for Bexley residents. Council members voted on a resolution that would allow for the issuance of city bonds to replenish cash from the general fund to pay for the pool.
 

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