Morgan Hill
– The City Council unanimously approved spending about $600,000
for upgrades and repairs to the city’s new aquatics center.
Morgan Hill – The City Council unanimously approved spending about $600,000 for upgrades and repairs to the city’s new aquatics center.
Most of the aquatics Center’s needs came from the Condit Road facility’s unexpectedly high use since its June 2004 opening.
Recreation Manager Julie Spier said they expected about 665 patrons a day, but actually saw 2,100.
The upgrades must be in place by summer for the improvements to begin their promised financial payback, according to Spier.
“We learned from the successes of last year,” Spier said. “The concessions and retail needed to grow and our patrons complained about the lines.”
Councilman Mark Grzan questioned the request.
“How did we get to a point of (needing) $600,000 to refurbish a facility that’s only eight months old?” Grzan asked.
It probably will, he was told, and the blame is mostly on value engineering, a method of substituting cheaper materials for those in the original plan, or removing some components – such as solar energy – all to save money initially.
The $600,000 includes a redesign of the lobby/ticketing/retail areas, concession improvements, a second water slide, more parking, competition timing systems, and repairs to locker room drains.
