By next summer, Greenwood will be home to Central Indiana’s newest state-of the-art water park.
Greenwood’s pool committee has unveiled two conceptual drawings of the $10 million facility that each show a lazy river, splash fountains and a host of twisting, turning water slides.
“It will have water slides that accommodate all ages,” said Scott W. Hester, president of Counsilman-Hunsaker, the St. Louis-based engineering firm running Greenwood’s water park project. “There will be passive water spaces, spaces where people can socialize.”
Hester’s firm has designed water parks and pools across the country, including Plainfield’s Splash Island Aquatic Center.
Greenwood’s water facility will be built in Freedom Park, which is near Apryl Drive and Averitt Road.
The two conceptual designs have similar features, including slides and splash zones for kids and older swimmers and a 25-yard lap pool with diving boards designed to host swim competitions.
One design requires the city to spend more on the filtration system. The other design has more water features and fewer filters. Officials will weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each before deciding which makes the most sense for Greenwood.
But the decisions will have to be made soon. Construction is expected to begin within the next several months. The pool is scheduled to open in June 2014.
The city will build the pool without raising taxes and without a public referendum by using money from two tax-increment financing districts.
The aquatic center plan plan cleared its final hurdle when the Redevelopment Commission endorsed the Freedom Park location and the hiring of design firms on April 8.
“It sets us apart,” said Thom Hord, the City Council member who has been spearheading the water park effort. “We will be attracting people as far south as Columbus to as far east as Shelbyville.”
City officials hope the pool will jump-start a new wave of business and residential growth. They believe it will bring in tourism dollars as visitors spend a day in the water then hit nearby restaurants and shops before driving home.
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This is the second summer that Greenwood residents have been without a municipal pool. Crumbling concrete and other safety hazards forced the city to shut down its existing lap pool in April 2012.
The site of the old pool is being turned into a splash park, which is expected to open later this summer.
Karl Kreck, 84, helped organize the remonstrance campaign in 2009 that killed a proposed $11.5 million park and pool referendum for Greenwood.
Kreck now believes it is time to build a new water park.
“I objected to this to begin with because I thought the old pool could be fixed up and would do the job,” Kreck said. “Now they’ve closed the pool down. There is a need for a pool.”
Kreck supports the plan even though he’s not pleased with the Freedom Park location. He believes a downtown water park would have a greater boost to the local economy.
Hord and others note there is not enough space in downtown parks to fit an aquatic center without dramatically increasing the project costs. The city can build a better center for less money in the undeveloped Freedom Park.
While the city will not recoup the costs of building the facility, Hord believes the water park will make enough in entrance fees and concessions to cover the annual operating costs.
“Aquatic centers that have a lot of amenities attract more people,” Hord said. “Amenities are what pools are now. It’s not just a tub of water in the ground anymore.”
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