Early estimate given for community pool

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

There’s an early price estimate for a community pool – dubbed the Van Wert Family Aquatic Center.

During Monday night’s special meeting of Van Wert City Council, council members were told that based on 2024 prices, a community pool with 9,384 square feet of water surface and a 32,806 square foot deck and grass area would likely cost $7.5 million. Figures for the pool size and deck area came from a 2012 proposal. At that time, a pool would have cost an estimated $3 million. A study was also done in 2002.

The focus of Monday night’s meeting was to get a cost estimate and for council members and the public to ask questions related to those numbers.

The presentation was led by Nancy Nozik, Division Principal, and Charles Schneider, Vice President of the architectural firm of Brandstetter Carroll Inc. Nozik cautioned the cost estimate given is a guess and said no one would know the actual cost until construction bids would be opened by city officials.

“What we’re pricing off of here is a pretty drawing, so these are big picture numbers to get you in the ballpark,” Nozik told council. “That’s the message we want to get today, that it’s in this range of, I would say depending on what you do, $5-$8 million.”

The two compared other area pools, including Camp Clay, Delphos, Paulding and Celina and shared examples and costs of pool projects in other communities in and outside of Ohio, with prices generally ranging from $3 million to just over $8 million.

Those in attendance learned that on average, a local outdoor pool would likely get about 80 days of use per year and they were told a new pool would likely last between 20-25 years before needing major renovations.

No decisions were made at the meeting and a potential funding source was not discussed, nor was a potential location. Mayor Ken Markward said at a previous meeting that some financial assistance may be available from the Ohio Capital Budget. It was noted toward the end of the hour long meeting that if a funding issue was placed on the November ballot and was approved, a new pool likely wouldn’t open until May of 2026.

After the meeting, Council President Thad Eikenbary said he expects further discussion at future meetings.

“I think (tonight) opened the door for the next discussion, what the need really is, is the feasibility study done prior enough,” Eikenbary said. “We have to figure out how we’d pay for it and where would we put it. I would say we’ll have a future meeting similar to this one to focus on those other questions and then we can always supplement those discussions with the cost discussion we had tonight.”

No date was set for future discussion. The next regular meeting of Van Wert City Council is scheduled for Monday, March 11.