Although Park City voters turned down a $30 million bond for recreation improvements last year, the city will be moving forward with plans to rebuild the aquatic facilities at the PC MARC and a new community center in City Park. The funds have already been set aside in this year’s capital budget.
The council’s review of the alternatives will start in work session Thursday, Feb.15, at 3:45 p.m. It’ll cost $6 million to renovate the MARC’s outdoor pools and $15 million to demolish and rebuild the City Park recreation building. Park City Manager Matt Dias said the plan is to do a complete overhaul of the lap pool and nearly double the size of the leisure pool.
“The leisure pool has been really overwhelmed,” Dias said. “We run lots of different types of summer camps and youth amenities through that pool. So, the notion that we can totally overhaul our lap pool will also add some depth so we can add some diving boards which are frequently requested element in recreational pools and add some other elements like some better slides and water features for the younger kids and for some of the senior aquatic activities. It's an exciting time for us.”
Currently the pools are separated, and it’s relatively quiet around the lap pool. The new plans, however, show the leisure pool moving next to the lap pool, which would likely raise the noise level. Dias said it’s important for residents to let the council know what they think.
“We want that type of input. Please email us, call your councilmembers and feel free to show up the meeting,” he said. “We have online streaming, in person opportunities or you can email us ahead of time with your input.”
The project will be before the planning commission later this month. If approved, Dias said once under construction, it could take 10 months to renovate. What that means for pool use this summer has yet to be determined.
The second project will demolish the existing city recreation building near the basketball courts and build a new 15,000-square-foot community center. Dias said this would allow the city to expand its popular summer camp and provide a facility that can be used to host other community events throughout the year.
“We have a council retreat coming up at the end of this month; it'd be a wonderful place to host a council retreat,” he said. “But we can also work with nonprofits and provide them meeting space. We have a myriad of open houses or community meetings throughout the year. And then we have other partners and stakeholders that are kind of in the inter-governmental area. It could be the county who has a community meeting, and they want to host it in Park City. And we love the nexus of proximity, the library being in the heart of town on transit, very, very walkable.”
This project wouldn’t begin until the fall of 2025.