Designs for Robinson Park Pool Renovation Scheduled to be Completed This Year

Design of the new pool and pool building renovations at Robinson Park will be completed this year, according to a memo from Kris Markarian, the acting director of Public Works to City Manager Steve Mermell.

When completed, the existing pool will be replaced with a new 4,141 square-foot pool that includes zero-entry access to provide for toddler, senior, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) activities, lanes for lap swimming, a new high-efficiency heating system, a new pool deck with deck showers, and a facility perimeter wall.

In addition, a new chemical storage and pool equipment room will be constructed.

Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2022 and will be completed in spring 2023.

Councilmember John Kennedy said the new pool could play a key part in teaching African American children to swim at a young age.

“Minority children, particularly those who are African American, are drowning in significant numbers across this country every year caused by the remnants of racist public policies of old, concerning access to public swimming pools, still impacting communities of color today,” Kennedy said. Those racist policies can not be overlooked.

“It feels like the pool and pool house at Robinson Park have been closed for 5 or 6 years and that the City is moving at a snails pace to bring relief to the children suffering from the sweltering summer heat. However, the reality is more nuanced given tight capital budgets.”

Black Americans are about half as likely to know how to swim as white Americans. according to Professor Jeff Wiltse from the University of Montana and author of “Contested Waters” told ABC News. According to Wiltse, Black children are, depending on their age, three to five times more likely to drown than white children.

“The pool and pool house will play a critical role in teaching our young how to swim and encouraging them to stay in involved in water sports throughout their lives,” Kennedy said. “We stop the drowning by teaching all children how to swim at a very young age. We can do that and we must do that at Robinson Park and Recreational Center without delay.”

Two years ago, the City Council voted to appropriate residential impact fees from the Lincoln Properties Development to the Robinson Park project and several others as part of the 2019 capital improvement program.

Robinson Park first opened in 1974 and was renovated in 2009,

The pool building will be reconfigured and renovated to provide ADA compliance upgrades and improvements to the facility’s functionality.

Shower rooms will be converted to meet ADA standards as well as provide two new family-friendly restrooms with showers. The reconfiguration will create space for new first aid and staff locker rooms and provide an ADA-compliant path-of-travel to the pool. Building finishes will be updated throughout.

“These improvements will allow residents and visitors alike to enjoy these amenities and provide programming year-round for many years to come,” Markarian wrote.

A construction contract for the work is scheduled to be awarded in December.