SIBLEY, Iowa -- The 1950s era swimming pool at Sibley will make a splash, to to speak, this year as construction workers embark on a renovation/addition project that garnered 85 percent public approval in a 2017 vote.
Estimates for the Sibley Aquatic Center project come to $1.6 million, while the bath-house renovation pencils in another $500,000.
The effort is being paid for via 20-year general obligation bond approved by voters in the Osceola County seat.
Cory Dykstra, the city's water superintendent and manager of this project, said $500,000 has been raised privately, while another $250,000 was secured in March through an Enhance Iowa CAT grant for community attractions.
The swimming pool, which stands about 100 yards from the clubhouse serving Sibley Golf & Country Club, was built in the late 1950s. A renovation took place in the early 1980s. Then, in 1999, a zero-depth entry area was constructed.
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City staff will open bids for this project at 2 p.m. on April 19. Bids will then be presented to the public during a meeting of the City Council on April 23. At that time, the council is expected to award the bid to a contractor, who might then begin work on the project in early May.
The bottom of the existing pool will be renovated, not torn out. The zero-depth portion will be modified to lessen the slope. Also more toys and water features will be included.
"This will also have a separate splash-pad area that can be gated," Dykstra said. "So if the pool is not open to the public, users will still have access to water features in the splash pad. We did that because there are many times when the weather is nice we couldn't get lifeguards because of school functions."
With this option, he continued, a user may access this area, for example, on a hot late-summer day in August when the school year has already begun.
Dykstra said the new and improved pool will have a volleyball net, a basketball hoop, a diving board at 2/3 of a meter, a water walk, a log roll, a drop slide and a rock climbing wall that leans out over the water.
One drawback to the effort is the fact the pool likely will be closed the entire 2018 swimming season.
"I'd be surprised if we opened at all this summer," Dykstra said. "With the way things worked out, it wasn't in the cards primarily because we wanted to make sure we heard about the CAT grant before we started construction. We'll likely look at a spring 2019 opening."
Swimmers and those taking swimming lessons on the beginning end of the spectrum will be able to use the pool serving the AmericInn Hotel & Suites near the Highway 60 bypass in Sibley.
