JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Community members were invited out Tuesday evening to hear more and give input on Phase II of the Two Rivers Activity Center (TRAC) Outdoor Water project.
Facilities Manager Amy Walters addressed the turnout, stating that when the TRAC project originally came forward, the high price tag of $40 million for all of the items was a little bit of a roadblock.
Walters says now that the first phase of TRAC is completed, they’re looking at the next item on their list; outdoor water. Because of a very large donation from Shirley Rolfs Meidinger, the project schedule moved up. Now they’re seeking public input on what they’d like to see from the outdoor water project.
Jamestown Parks & Rec has contracted with Interstate Engineering and Zerrberg Architects to put a plan in place and go through construction costs and operation costs. This will lead to a final fundraising goal as the group continues to find funding through private donations.
Tony Wolf is the lead architect and says they’ll look to add outdoor water to the north of TRAC.
Brian Milne with Interstate Engineering has worked with communities to install and design outdoor water parks and pools for around 35 years. He says they have compared an outdoor pool to an outdoor splashdeck. Milne pointed out that a splashdeck is not water skill dependent and would be more cost effective than an outdoor pool at this time.
The cost to build an outdoor pool was estimated at $3.8 million compared to just $3 million for a splashdeck. When it comes to maintenance, it costs around $122,000 for 80 days of operation for an outdoor pool and around $29,000 for a splashdeck. The splashdeck would provide kids everything from a dumping bucket to deck slides, ground sprays, aerial sprays and more.
Dan Buchanan was at the meeting and stated his disapproval of not building an outdoor pool first.
Milne stated that the outdoor pool was not ruled out, but would be considered in the future. Right now, they’re looking to complete the splashdeck and get public input on what they’d like to see at the splashdeck. Walters stated the primary reason of the input meeting was to gauge community interest and know how much they would need to complete the project.
Right now, there is no estimated time of project completion.
Jamestown Parks & Rec and TRAC are seeking public comments, You can submit comments to Travis Dillman at travis.dillman@interstateeng.com.
