Carlsbad approves plan for Monroe Street Pool renovation (original) (raw)

Carlsbad’s City Council approved plans for the $24 million restoration and expansion of the 42-year-old Monroe Street Pool on Tuesday, although some swimmers were unhappy about the new size.

Some of the facility’s most frequent users said they wanted a 50-meter pool, but city officials responded that the proposed 33-meter design is 50 percent larger than the existing 25-meter one and is the largest the site can reasonably hold.

“I must implore you to reconsider the design to be a 50-meter pool,” said Spencer Rodman, a long-time aquatics competitor and now a swim and water polo coach at Carlsbad High School. The school is next door to the pool and is one of its biggest users.

“We can do a lot better,” Rodman said. “I have seen examples across the state of collaboration between city councils, school districts and private funding.”

Several high school swimmers also said the new pool needs to be bigger.

Parks and Recreation Director Kyle Lancaster said that “in theory” the rebuilt pool could be larger, but it would reduce the room available for parking and solar panels, and would increase the effects of noise and evening lights on nearby homes.

Building a larger pool would require more design work, increase construction costs and delay the project by at least a year, he said. Also, a larger pool would add to the operation and maintenance costs that are estimated to increase by $370,000 annually with the new 33-meter pool.

“We believe this is the right size approach,” Lancaster said. “Larger would have a much more significant impact on the environment.”

Mayor Keith Blackburn said he “could never face the community” if the council delayed the project, which has been planned since at least 2015.

“What we are getting is pretty darn good,” Blackburn said.

Carlsbad voters approved the renovation and expansion in November 2022 under a local ordinance that requires a ballot measure for some capital improvement projects costing more than $1 million.

Measure J authorized the city to spend up to 24million,withtheamountadjustedannuallybasedontheregionalconstructioncostindex.Theindexwas9.4percentin2023,increasingthespendinglimitto24 million, with the amount adjusted annually based on the regional construction cost index. The index was 9.4 percent in 2023, increasing the spending limit to 24million,withtheamountadjustedannuallybasedontheregionalconstructioncostindex.Theindexwas9.4percentin2023,increasingthespendinglimitto25 million in 2024. The most recent construction estimate for the proposed project is $23 million.

As approved the rebuilt pool will have 15 swim lanes instead of the existing nine, more parking, more bleachers, more shade, a new mechanical room and family restrooms, a reconfigured lobby and other features.

Carlsbad’s only other municipal aquatics center opened in 2014 at the Alga Norte Community Park, which has a 56-meter competition pool and a 25-yard, 12-lane instruction pool. The Alga Norte complex will be closed for three months this winter for the renovation of its locker rooms, restrooms and concrete surfaces.

In addition to approving plans, specifications and documents for the Monroe Street facility, the City Council authorized a little more than 18millioninconstructionfundingTuesdayanddirectedthecityclerktoadvertisetheprojectforconstructionbids.Thecouncilpreviouslyapproved18 million in construction funding Tuesday and directed the city clerk to advertise the project for construction bids. The council previously approved 18millioninconstructionfundingTuesdayanddirectedthecityclerktoadvertisetheprojectforconstructionbids.Thecouncilpreviouslyapproved4.8 million for the project.

The project is expected to return to the council in early 2025 to approve contracts for construction, and construction management and maintenance services.

Construction is expected to take about a year and a half, with completion in the summer of 2026.

Originally Published: September 12, 2024 at 5:09 p.m.