By Joe Bachman

Last week city officials voted to move forward in the construction of an outdoor aquatics facility at Witter Field, though logistical questions still linger.

Where exactly will the facility go? How will the city accommodate for parking? How large will the facility be?

While the answers of many of these questions have details yet to be hammered out, Public Works Director Joe Terry gave some insight into the future of an aquatics facility at the historic Witter Field.

According to a proof of concept by Burbach Aquatics, there are three separate aquatics possibilities — a neighborhood pool, a city pool, and a regional aquatics center. A city pool would be anywhere from 5,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet, while a regional aquatics center would be over 10,000 square feet in size.

Burbach Aquatics has provided conservative conceptual plans that range from 6,076 square feet to 14,584 square feet of water surface area.

*Click to Enlarge* A conceptual design of a future aquatics facility by Burbach Aquatics. (Courtesy: City of Wisconsin Rapids)

“For actual construction, the size, scope, features, and formal layout is yet to be determined as is the amount the city will need to raise through fundraising versus bond issue.” said Terry.

The logistics of approximate costs and maintenance for an outdoor facility are below:

Pool Finish: 5-7 years $30,000-$50,000
Slide Fiberglass gel coating: 15-20 years $30,000 per slide
Slide Flume: 25-50 years $100,000-$150,000
Slide wax: 1 year $3,000 per slide
Pumps: 20 years $6,000 per pump
Chemical Pumps: 5-7 years $2,000 per pump
Chemical Controllers: 20 years $5,000 per controller
Filters: 25 years $25,000 per filter
Filter: Media 5 years $2,000 per filter
Heater: 5 years $20,000
Water Features: 20 years variable

According to Terry, the concept from Burbach “demonstrated a regional aquatics center with a focus on recreational amenities, adequate deck space, shade features, rentable shelter areas, concessions, and a properly sized parking lot could be accommodated at Witter Field.”

In a 16-mile drive radius, the pool could serve up to approximately 61,000 people in the area. This population could support an aquatics center of up to 18,000 square feet. More discussion on the specifics of the new aquatics center will take place over the coming months.

Witter Field is located at 521 Lincoln St.