The city of Coralville is eyeing a renovation for its recreation center, located at 1506 8th St. The venture is a joint cooperation between Coralville and the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) on a master plan for a new indoor pool competition center.
The 50-year-old, 37,000 square foot building currently houses a gym, pool, exercise room, game room and meeting rooms, and the city says it’s past due for some improvements.
“We need additional gym space,” said Kelly Hayworth, Coralville’s city administrator. “We don’t have enough space currently for what we have,” noting that the city would also like to add multi-use rooms to accommodate different community activities.
150,000 people pass through the facility each year, said Sherri Proud, Coralville’s director of Parks and Recreation – and it’s not just relegated to Coralville citizens. Residents from Tiffin, western Iowa City and North Liberty use the center as well.
The rec center’s previous update occurred between 2006-2008 and included an HVAC update, roof, gym floor and pool filters, but much more is needed to stay current with the evolving needs of the community, said Ms. Proud.
“I think we’re looking for (something) more modern (and) bright, bringing in some digital and tech features for people to take advantage of. There’s some really cool things we can do that will make our spaces even more multi-use,” she said. The real catalyst for the project, she said, was a request from the ICCSD to revisit plans for the pool.
The ICCSD would like to develop a plan for Liberty High and West High to divide into separate swim teams since Liberty has grown in student enrollment, according to a Sept. 2023 Coralville council agenda. Currently, they operate as one team and practice together at the recreation center’s indoor pool, which has become inadequate for their needs. As it is, the recreation center doesn’t have enough lanes to accommodate separate teams in addition to public swimming.
The existing pool is 35 years old and most pools have a 30-40 year lifespan, said Ms. Proud. The ICCSD swim teams compete “in phenomenal places,” and Coralville and the ICCSD would like to construct a competitive-worthy space that reflects the caliber of the swim teams, the Sept. agenda stated.
The city of Coralville and the ICCSD forged a partnership in 1987 when the pool first opened, said Mr. Hayworth, and the collaboration has been beneficial for both entities, which split costs on maintenance and operating expenses.
When finished, the new indoor pool will be the practice base for Iowa City West High, Northwest Junior High, Iowa City Liberty High, and North Central Junior High.
An added benefit to expanded pool space is the ability to extend public swim hours. Between 3 p.m.-7 p.m. Aug.-Feb., pool use is relegated to swim team practice, said Ms. Proud.
“One of the things that we would like to see at the end of all this, is that the general public has access most of the time to those facilities — which they don’t have, currently,” said Mr. Hayworth, saying that the city is looking into the logistics of two-to-three pools.
Plans
Because Coralville is still in the master plan process, construction costs and exact renovation details are currently unknown. In February, the city provided a survey for residents to convey what amenities and features they’d like to see in the updated facility, receiving over 1,000 replies. Approximately 40% said they’d like to see an indoor track, said Mr. Hayworth.
“That is outstanding,” he said, of the survey numbers. “By and large, people have been so excited.”
The city is working with consulting firms Neumann Monson Architects and Water’s Edge Aquatic Design to map out logistics of the project. On April 4, the same community vision group will go over design schematics with the consultants, and on June 11, there will be an open house for the community to look over the rough-draft plans, which the city will finalize based on feedback.
Plans will eventually make their way to the city council for consideration. It’s still too early to narrow down pricing for the project or payment options yet, said both Mr. Hayworth and Ms. Proud, but costs will be divided between the recreation center and the ICCSD with the likelihood of a percentage being covered by a bond.
Although a budget has not yet been set — it’s too early in the process, said Mr. Hayworth — the master plan phase cost a little over $150,000 and was split 40/60 between the ICCSD and the city.
While the recreation center is looking forward to updated facilities, city officials are giving careful consideration to physical expansion since the facilities are adjacent to the popular S.T. Morrison Park.
“We want to be conscientious about how much space we reserve for the park vs. how much space the rec center would take,” said Ms. Proud.
The city would like to start the schematic design and construction document process this summer, a 9-10 month process, followed by bidding season. “If we could get a bid underway next spring, we could be underway by early summer (of 2025),” said Ms. Proud. “I anticipate that this will be a 15-18 month construction.”
The renovation is something citizens and city officials alike are looking forward to.
“A lot of times we work on streets and sewers and all those things which are important, but this is kind of one of those more fun things that we can do for the community,” said Mr. Hayworth.
“We’re ready for something updated with more opportunities, and I am excited that we will get to bring this to our residents and our citizens,” said Ms. Proud.
