PORT ANGELES — A major expansion is on the horizon for William Shore Memorial Pool, and district officials are seeking public input to help shape the final design.
The 55-year-old aquatic center at 225 E. Fifth St. in Port Angeles will undergo a $10 million expansion in the coming years to meet a growing demand.
The pool had a record 100,000 visits in 2016 and a waiting list for swimming lessons last month, Executive Director Steve Burke said.
“We’ve broken every attendance record we had,” Burke said in a recent interview.
“We’re still as busy as ever.”
The William Shore Memorial Pool District, which has operated the pool since 2009, is seeking feedback from district residents and pool users on the types of amenities and programs that are important to them.
An eight-question survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/G58GMK5.
Those who complete the survey are eligible for a free pass to use the pool.
Here are some of the amenities that district officials are considering:
• New locker rooms.
• A warm water exercise/therapy pool that can hold up to 35.
• A kids’ splash and play area with beach entry, lazy river and vortex ring that swirls around.
• A hot tub with room for 10 to 12.
• Dry and steam saunas.
• More family changing rooms.
• A multipurpose room for after-school programs and birthday parties.
• Increased parking with 25 new spaces.
Built in 1961, the existing pool has locker rooms and plumbing that do not meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, Burke said.
“The facility also lacks an adequate kids’ splash/play area and a pool with warmer water for exercising, therapy classes and swim lessons,” said Burke, who is also a Port of Port Angeles commissioner.
The pool district’s Citizens Advisory Committee, staff and architects spent months deciding what to include in the expansion plans.
Before the plans are finalized, Burke said, “We just want to make sure we’ve got good input from the community.”
The aquatic center will be expanded to the west and its main entrance will be moved from Fifth Street to the more prominent Lincoln Street side.
Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2018. The work will be completed in late 2019 or 2020, Burke said.
To make room for the westward expansion, Peninsula Behavioral Health (PBH) is moving its Horizon Center from the shadows of the pool to its main campus at 118 E. Eighth St.
The Horizon Center at 205 E. Fifth St. is a day-use gathering place for PBH clients. Clallam County and the pool district have a memorandum of understanding regarding how the Horizon Center could be transferred.
The pool expansion project is expected to generate 17 jobs and bring more than $4 million to the local economy, Burke said.
The junior taxing district, which shares a boundary with the Port Angeles School District, has about $7.3 million in available bond funding to pay for the expansion without asking voters to approve a bond measure.
State grants would account for the remainder of the estimated cost, Burke said.
William Shore Memorial Pool was owned and operated by the city of Port Angeles until voters formed the pool district eight years ago.
Meanwhile, Clallam County commissioners are considering a $39,960 Opportunity Fund grant to help pay for the design of the pool expansion.
Last year’s board approved the grant request, but the money was held under advice from the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Commissioners will consider awarding the grant after the city of Port Angeles adds the pool to its comprehensive plan.
The Port Angeles City Council is expected to adopt a revised comprehensive plan in June, county Administrator Jim Jones said.
Commissioners will consider approving a debatable budget emergency to make the funds available later this month.
Final approval would come after the city has amended its comprehensive plan.
For information on William Shore Memorial Pool, go to www.williamshorepool.org.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
A floor plan of the expanded William Shore Memorial Pool.
