From An Idea To A New Pool — What Has Been A 3-Year Journey

New Elgin Pool Design Approved
New Elgin Pool Design Approved

In 2013 the Elgin City Council was approached by a group of community members interested in the future of our local swimming pool.
They asked the council to consider setting aside money for a future pool. That action set in motion a 3-year process that is resulting in building a new swimming pool, to open summer of 2017.
A pool committee was formed in August of 2014 as a sounding board for the pool project and has been meeting regularly for the past two years. After meeting with several engineering firms, the committee recommended to the City Council that Burbach Aquatics be hired to conduct a pool study. The selection of Burbach Acquatics was based in part on positive recommendations by other communities.
The pool study was completed in September of 2014. Following the study the City Council agreed something needed to be done with the existing pool due to the loss of water daily, not meeting ADA requirements and some code requirements. With the renovations, the pool will allow for the elderly, disabled and small children to enter the pool safely with the zero entry.
Many different options were considered along the way. Construction costs, current and future population, annual operational costs and sustainability were all factors.  The committee researched different options from numerous sources and the overwhelming consensus was that indoor pools aren’t feasible to operate in towns under 10,000. Current income is $13,000 over three months (from pool passes and swimming lessons). Operating loss for our pool is approximately $17,000 over 3 months, which is paid by the taxpayer.
According to the pool committee, expenses for a new outdoor pool are estimated to be about the same. Our qualified pool engineer has data and statistics indicating a new indoor pool would have an operating loss around $170,000 over 12 months. Most of this will need to be paid for by the taxpayer. The City Council decided that an outdoor pool was considered the best option to keep the pool affordable for young families and was in the best interest of our taxpayers.
In the fall of 2015 a very generous $500,000 gift from Jerry & Lita Tunink opened up the options available for consideration and numerous refinements have been made.
On July 5 the City Council approved the final architectural plan. This plan includes a new pool with larger surface area, zero entry depth, new kiddie water feature, new bathhouse and will be ADA compliant.
Submitted By The Pool Committee

TIMELINE ON THE PROCESS:

April 2013 — Group approaches City Council about future of the pool
August 2014 — City Council considers/approves plan to renovate swimming pool
August 2014 — Committee was formed to research and review pool options
August 2014 — Burbach Aquatics selected from group of 3 candidates
September 2014 — Pool Study completed
September 2015 — Town Hall meeting held at Senior Center for community input
October 2015 — $500,000 Gift from Jerry & Lita Tunink received
November 2015 — City Bond Issue passes with 95% of voters in favor of the $500,000 bond
April 2016 — General Fund raising campaign begins
May 2016 — Recommendation to build new pool instead of refurbishing old pool
June 2016 — Final architectural plans completed
July 2016 — City Council approves final architectural plan
July 2016 — Fund Raising continues, additional 25 tax credits become available
August 2016 — Bids to be awarded
September 2016 — Ground Breaking for new swimming pool
May 2017 — Pool Opens