Those who find refreshment in the La Vista Municipal Swimming Pool need to savor every dip.
The pool will be open only on weekends through Labor Day, when its final season will come to an end.
The La Vista City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 6, awarded a contract to Vixen Construction of Crescent, Iowa, for demolition of the pool. Vixen submitted a bid of no more than $96,700 for the project – the lowest of the four bids received. Demolition is expected to be completed in September, according to Rita Ramirez, assistant city administrator.
The facility’s impending demise is the result of its advanced age and its location, which interferes with a major project the city has in the works.
The pool and related equipment are in poor condition, according to Mitch Beaumont, La Vista communication manager.
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“The pipes underneath are Swiss cheese, and the parts needed for repairs aren’t made anymore – which leaves our crews having to manufacture the parts,” he said.
Beaumont estimated the city would be without a public swimming pool for about two years while a new one is developed.
In addition, the city plans to have an underpass built that would join the city’s Central Park and La Vista City Centre on the east side with the recreation area on the west side that is home to the pool and several ball parks. The west end of the tunnel will be about where the pool stands. The city was awarded a $5 million federal grant in 2021 for construction of the underpass, which must be bid by August 2025 to meet federal requirements, Ramirez said. The structure is currently in the design stage.
In anticipation of the east-west connection, the area on the west side with Kelly McMahon Field and other athletic facilities was recently renamed Central Park West. Besides the underpass, improvements will include trails and landscaping along each side of 84th Street, Ramirez said.
It all grew out of Corridor 84 — originally called Vision 84 – a plan for revitalizing the 84th Street corridor between Harrison and Giles Streets developed after the closure of a Walmart store on the east side of the street in 2006 and a Baker’s on the west side a few years later, Beaumont said. Planning began with some brainstorming sessions and public meetings back in 2008-2010. Meetings were also held with stakeholders and developers, and residents were surveyed every three years to start with.
Citizens who responded kept saying the city needed to do something with the 84th Street corridor, Ramirez said. At some point, the stretch from Harrison to Giles was dubbed the “Golden Mile.”
Voters approved a half-cent local option sales tax in 2014 to help fund improvements in public infrastructure, she said. The city got to work on the infrastructure and in 2016 closed an old nine-hole golf course north of Central Park in order to expand the park and its pond.
Working with developer City Ventures of Omaha, the city completed upgrades in the area of the former Walmart, building two parking garages, streets, the pavilion at The Astro amphitheater, public restrooms and other amenities, Ramirez said. Meanwhile, City Ventures developed the City Centre, theater, amphitheater and cluster of apartment buildings and businesses. The Astro and other developments have helped to restore vitality to the area.
Most of Vision 84 has now been realized, she said.
In 2020, the city council enacted a Business Occupation Tax of 3.5% that is assessed on ticket sales at The Astro, Ramirez said. The city has continued to make improvements, adding a new playground, shelter house and other enhancements at the park. New, aesthetically pleasing lights will be installed during the coming weeks.
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Publish date : 2024-08-14 00:00:00
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