School board approves construction of $38.5M Aquatic Center

About two thirds of the money will come from the school district’s depreciation fund, or reserve account, and another third of the money will come from the Campbell County Community Public Recreation District, said Dennis Holmes, associate superintendent of instructional support. The state can’t pay for any of the costs.

The construction was awarded to local group Van Ewing Construction, the only company that put in a bid. In September, the group placed the bid at nearly $42 million but after some alternate bids for the pool, insulation and roofing, it was re-entered at the approved number.

Sean Mathes, school district supervisor of facilities and grounds, said he and others reached out to companies in about 10 different states who could take on the size and scope of the project but all companies were booked out for the next one to four years.

Last summer, school officials decided to push back the project after bids came in about 20% higher than expected–about $27.5 million. Since then, costs have continued to increase and officials don’t see prices decreasing in the near future.

“We don’t see anything coming down, concrete looks like it will continue to increase and other items may level out but not go down,” Mathes said.

Mathes said the new 50-meter pool will remain the only Olympic-sized pool in the state and will retain its status as the fastest pool in Wyoming because of its depth. The addition of a “floating floor” also will allow the community to host national events that it was previously unable to do, bringing additional money to the local economy and city.

Why now?

Mathes said the 40 years of life the Aquatic Center has lived is about 10 years more than the average. After upgrades a few years ago, studies completed said the center was set to remain open for another five to 10 more years.

All studies said the center had exceeded its lifespan.

“It’s still functional, it’s just a matter of how long it will remain functioning,” Holmes said.

But within 10 years, a total remodel or new pool would need to be built. The biggest concern for school officials centered around a backup plan if the old center was shut down for repair.

All elementary students throughout the school district are taught to swim at the center and go there many times throughout their school careers. Both high school swim teams also train at the facility — Gillette remains the only 4A school in the state without an on-site pool for high school students, Mathes said. Swimming lessons are also taught in the summers at the center.

“We don’t know what we’d do with our swimming teams,” said Chairwoman Anne Ochs on if the center shut down. “The pool at the Rec Center is not big enough. We would have to shut down the swimming programs for a minimum of three years, which includes our high school program. We would have to remove (lessons) from our curriculum, plus the people who are hired to teach.

“This has been something our community has bought into for years and so, we couldn’t come up with any other options besides trying to use the Rec Center pool.”

At this point, Mathes said bandaid repairs are made to maintain the use of the antiquated facility. The existing pool has never been replaced and needs inspections quarterly, if not more.

To gut out the old pool and build a new tub in the same space would be nearly as expensive as the construction of another facility and there would still be the question of space for swimmers and audiences.

The new “floating floor” will save space and cut upkeep down to one pool, versus the junior and 50-meter pools in the old facility. A floating floor allows staff to change the depth of water from 6 inches to 8 feet within the same pool. Essentially, the pool can go from a training center for kindergartners to a competitive meet within 15 minutes.

The new center also accounts for another issue that arises at nearly all swim meets: Space.

“Any of the large meets now, for spectators, it’s pretty much standing room only,” Mathes said. “There’s space for about 700 people but that’s swimmers and spectators combined.”

The new center will allow for about 900 swimmers on the first level and space for another 977 spectators in the mezzanine, where concessions will also be located. Level one will also include a weight room, wet classroom for teaching swimming and lifeguards, bathrooms and locker rooms.

Inside the general locker rooms, there are also two team locker rooms for Campbell County and Thunder Basin high schools to have their own space, something they do not have now.

“This isn’t just a new swimming pool that everyone can complain about us spending too much money on, this is something that is used by all of the kids,” Trustee Linda Bricker said. “I don’t think that any child should grow up without knowing how to swim and save their own lives.”

The plan is to keep the old facility open while constructing the new center and simply close one’s doors as the other’s open. Holmes said once it begins, the building of the center will take about 18-24 months.

Mathes expects ground to be broken on the project after the new year.