Swimming pond may be located behind elementary school
By Bert Lehman
The city of Clintonville will explore an alternative location for the construction of a swimming pond.
The city council approved authorizing the city administrator to sign a contract for site selection and preliminary design services with CRS Design not to exceed $6,800.
The funds will come from the outdoor swimming facility fund.
The authorization is contingent on the results of the school referendum in the November election.
The designs will be done for land located behind Rexford Longfellow Elementary School.
“This would allow us to have an option as to where we want to put the swimming pond,” said City Administrator Sharon Eveland.
She said she had a “very, very introductory” conversation with the school superintendent to determine if this would be feasible with the Clintonville School District.
Through this conversation, Eveland said she learned the district’s hopes to move away from the Rexford Longfellow Elementary School location.
This could allow the city to purchase that land if it were deemed a suitable location for a swimming pond.
“Then when we have a more permanent decision about our future borrowing and our future CIP we will be able to select a location based on that,” Eveland said. “But at least this gives us an option that we’ve analyzed a secondary location.”
Ald. Ben Huber said he was in favor of this idea, but advised the council to wait a few months until after the school referendum that will be put forth to voters in the November election.
“If that referendum would pass, it would then allow that facility to be open (to be sold),” Huber said. “But I think it’s a little bit of the cart before the horse to look at it (now). If the referendum does not pass, very likely that building will continue to be used as a primary school.”
In an Aug. 13 memo from Eveland to members of the council, Eveland stated, “We are looking at some big future/future growth ideas and knowing if there is an appropriate alternate site for the swimming pond will be useful as conversations progress on our 2021-2027 CIP.”
The city already had preliminary designs done for a swimming pond to be located where the outdoor municipal swimming pool was located.