Ready for a dip? New aquatic center slated to open May 24

By BECKY BROOKS

Enterprise Editor

clydenews@bizwoh.rr.com

In the drifts of snow and mounds of mud, it may still be hard to envision what the new Clyde Aquatic Center in Community Park will look like by spring.

"We don't have any three-dimensional artist rendering," city manager Dan Weaver admitted. The design-builder on the project is Janotta Herner with Patterson Pools putting in the actual pool. Weaver added KF Ventures is doing the excavation work.

He is betting that in a few weeks, local residents will be able to get a better perception of the new center. The bathhouse/concession stand is already under construction at the site of the old city pool.

"Once that slide starts going up, it will make a world of difference," Weaver said. That will begin shortly after the winter weather breaks.

"They still claim they are slightly ahead of schedule," the city manager commented about the $1.8 million construction project.

A long week of snow after snow in the first week of March had him concerned the project might hit a delay.

He was still slating the pool for a May 24 official dedication.

The new pool itself will be 8,000 square feet.

"Everything is double in size," Weaver reported - there is double the space in the bath house, concession area and swimming area.

The pool also will included two high water slides for adults and older youths.

"The height is 28-feet spiraling down," he described. "There is also a slide pool."

The two slides will enter an area blocked off from the rest of the pool so people coming out the chutes will not hit swimmers. "They are the type of slides you see at Kalahari or Great Wolf," the city manager pointed out.

One slide will be a half open chute where the ride slides down with water. The other slide will be a enclosed tube, which requires the rider to use a tube.

"They are almost identical in shape."

One set of stairs and platforms will lead up to both waterslides.

"At the 'zero' depth (pool) area there will be a play station for children," he said, adding that area will include a raindrop makers, small children's slide and other toys.

The one difference between the new aquatic center and the old city pool is the diving area.

There will be none in the new pool.

"Since there was no competitive swimming in the city , the planners said there was no use spending (money) on a diving well," Weaver remarked. The new pool will also have many more employees than the old operation.

"The rec board plans to double the number of lifeguards," he added. "I think they (the board members) plan to bring many more features to the pool."

The City Council recently approved a day pass for the pool at a cost of $4 a person and set a fee of $200 to rent the pool for two hours for a private swim party.