From the pages of
Pinedale Roundup
Volume 104, Number 41 - October 11, 2007
brought to you online by Pinedale Online

Aquatic Center nearing completion

by Jennie Oemig

The Pinedale Aquatic Center (PAC) is only weeks from completion as the Joint Powers Board met Tuesday to discuss the construction timeline, as well as preparation for the 3A West Conference girls’ swim meet, which will be held in the facility this weekend.

After setting the agenda and approving the minutes, payroll and bills, PAC Construction Manager Dennis Seipp took the floor to give the board an update on how much had been completed since the last meeting and how much is left to go. “There’s a lot of things going on over there,” he said, adding that the liner of the leisure pool was to be finished by today and will be filled Monday morning.

One thing that has caused the most grief in the facility is the ductwork in the competition pool area. Several CCI Mechanical workers, as well as some engineers who worked on the roof, were on site Tuesday to inspect the ducts and try to figure out a way to reduce the noise being emitted, Seipp said.

The proposal to putting a variable speed drive back in was brought up and Seipp said if that is the route that is taken, it may end up costing the school district more money. “It’s possible that there’s gonna be a change order for $25,000 to $35,000 to put the variable speed drive back in,” he said. Continuing on with his report, Seipp said work on the racquetball court floor is under way and should be completed by the middle of next week.

The snowmelt project, which consists of the heating of the handicap ramp to prevent icy conditions, is complete and the ramp is expected to be poured today or Friday, Seipp said.

In the leisure pool area, the railing on the slide tower has been installed and it is anticipated that the spa pool will be filled and in service by next week, Seipp said. The parking lot has been paved and striped as well, Seipp said.

“We’re trying to keep people off of there for now,” he said, adding that during the conference swim meet this weekend, the buses, once unloaded, will be allowed to park there. The masonry in the old pool area, which will become the gymnasium in the new facility, is finished as well.

“A lot of things are being completed,” Seipp said, adding that if everything continues as expected, the facility will be completely finished by the second week of November.

After Seipp finished his report, board member ML Baxley questioned the additional cost of putting the variable speed drive back in the ductwork.

“They have some serious design problems, especially in the ducting,” Seipp said, acknowledging that the school district would not have to pay any more money for a change order without first investigating the options.

Seeing as how the ductwork in the competition pool area is the same as in the leisure pool area, with transitions from round to square ducting that is ultimately causing the increased noise and vibration, PAC Business Manager Vern McAdams asked whether the same problem would surface once the leisure pool is completed.

“There’s that possibility with the round to square transition pieces,” Seipp said. Board member Mike McFarland also asked if the engineers were confident that putting the variable speed drive back in would alleviate the problems, which Seipp affirmed.

“I can’t believe they’d even have the guts to ask for the money at this point,” McFarland said.

Baxley inquired about the current situation with the new diving board, which PAC Director JJ Huntley said would be shipping Oct. 22 with its arrival expected by Nov. 6. “The girls’ season is over … but in the boys season, we have champion divers and they need the best equipment possible,” Baxley said, acknowledging the importance that the board be received and put in place prior to the start of the boys’ swim practice on Nov. 26.

During her report, Huntley said that the PAC staff was able to move out of the high school’s yearbook room and has set up shop temporarily in the lifeguard room in the facility. The PAC staff is continuing to get the word out around town about the new aquatic facility, attending the monthly Chamber meetings, as well as corporate gatherings to keep everyone in town in the loop as to what’s going on, Huntley said.

Though promotion is critical as the opening of the facility draws near, the primary focus of the PAC staff is the upcoming conference swim meet, Huntley noted. She said that in addition to finding a copier to print off hundreds of heat sheets for the event, the staff is working on everything from designing banners to preparing music for warmups. “We’d like to make this conference meet the most successful, smoothly run and memorable one ever,” she said.

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