06/14/02

-By this time next year, residents will be swimming and relaxing at a new aquatic center - the most expensive and large-scale recreational construction in the city since 1969.

Officials learned recently that the current pool on Fairmount Blvd. is too old to withstand an additional summer without costly structural repairs. The 33-year-old, Olympic-sized pool is slowly leaking water, Mayor Merle Gorden said.

The city had been planning to build a new pool in three or four years. But once officials learned of the needed repairs, they decided to make a new pool a top priority.

At the end of this summer, the current pool will be closed. A $4.5 million aquatic center will be built in its place, opening next June in time for swim season. The pool will be paid for with money from the general fund that had been earmarked for recreation. The new complex will be more interactive than the current pool, said Karen Carmen, community services director. Initial plans include two water slides, a kiddie pool and a relaxation area, where residents will be able to sit on a bench in waist-deep water, chatting with friends or supervising children swimming nearby.

City Council last week hired architecture firm Schmidt Copeland Parker Stevens of Cleveland to design the new complex.

"I think we're due for a fun, new facility," Carmen said. "It's a very important step in fulfilling the recreational requests of our residents."

The city's new $15 million recreation center and park will be built nearby in the Shaker Blvd. median at Richmond Road. At a series of public meetings, residents told city leaders they wanted the pool to remain separate from the recreation center at its current Fairmount Blvd. site behind City Hall.

Contact Lila J. Mills at:

ljmills@plaind.com, 216-999-4852