Kuehn Park pool bids come in below budget, allow for extra amenities

The low bid to build the outdoor Kuehn Park Family Aquatics Center came in below budget and will allow for some items to be funded that the city had hoped to include.

Six contractors bid on the project, which was budgeted at $15.4 million.

The low bid for came in at $13.2 million. That allows the city to award a contract that includes additional amenities that were part of the plan if funding allowed.

“We were super-excited,” park development specialist Tory Miedema said. “We accepted a larger play structure, so we’ll have a themed play structure in the recreation pool, and this is a lot bigger one with slides and areas to play in, so a lot of play value there.”

The budget also allowed for an additional water slide, a body slide that will give the aquatic center two slides. There also will be a climbing wall over one of the swimming pools.

Finally, the city could approve an “aquatic crossing feature” like the lily pads at the Midco Aquatic Center, “that we bump out and expand the recreation pool,” Miedema said. “So there’s extra water surface area, and then we’ll have that crossing feature with that.”

Kuehn will be the city’s largest aquatic center, doubling its capacity to more than 700 visitors. It will include three separate areas of water:

• A pool for fitness laps that also includes diving boards.
• A leisure river pool.
• An activities pool that starts at zero depth and goes to 2 feet and includes a water play structure and spray features.

Even with accepting the extras, the estimate is still under budget at $14.4 million.

“They all add really good play value,” Miedema said. “We’re sitting really good, and we’ve got a good contingency.”

Peska Construction was the winning bidder. The company also built the Drake Springs Family Aquatic Center, which opened in 2009.

Construction is scheduled to start in mid-April, and the new aquatics center is expected to open by the middle of the 2027 swim season.

The current pool will be open this year as normal because the new pool is being built in a different part of the park at 2501 S. Kuehn Park Road.

Another addition to the pool system, a replacement for the McKennan Park wading pool, is coming along well, Miedema said.

“The bathhouses are starting to look really good, and the weather is starting to turn, so … we should be ready for the swim season.”