Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Repaired water slides may last four to five years.
The process of replacing the aging SplashDown at the Columbia Swim Center inched closer on Tuesday night as architects presented three new options to take the place of the waterslides. The plans ranged in cost from $2 million to $9.5 million. Williams Architects/Aquatics presented the options on Tuesday night at the Hawthorn Center along with plans for a new indoor pool. The first option, priced between $2 million and $3.1 million, would keep the swim center intact as is, but replace the SplashDown feature with one or two family-friendly features. The second option involves remodeling the Swim Center's main pool area and building enclosure to make it more thermally efficient as well as adding a children's wading pool. The cost is …
Architects hired by Columbia Association presented four multi-million dollar options for a new indoor pool.
Columbia Association has narrowed down the options for a new indoor pool to four designs that would cost between $5 to $6 million at three different locations. Representatives of Willaims Architects/ Aquatics, the firm hired by CA to handle aquatics upgrades, presented the options to about 50 community members at a meeting on Tuesday night at the Hawthorn Center. The impetus for a new indoor pool is to provide more lap swimming options for CA members, according to Bob Bellamy, sport and fitness director for CA. "We know we need additional indoor lanes in our aquatic facilities," said Bellamy, who cited interest in lap swimming for fitness as one of the reasons for a new indoor pool. The proposals will be presented to the CA board on Jan…
Friday, October 26, 2012
CA has narrowed its field of outdoor pools to be turned into an indoor pool from six to four.
An architecture firm hired by Columbia Association to research turning an outdoor pool into an indoor pool found that Locust Park, Dasher Green, Talbott Springs and Jeffers Hill are the possibilities, according to reporting from Explore Howard. CA is interested in enclosing an outdoor pool in order to meet a large demand from numerous constituencies including, lap swimmers, master swimmers, athletes and the Columbia Clippers swim team, according to CA spokesperson David Greisman. Previously they had considered six pools, but narrowed the field to four. In addition, the firm recommended a number of possible replacements for SplashDown. The recommendations included a lazy river, community Jacuzzi, water spray playground and a wave …
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
What should replace SplashDown? Tell us in comments.
Columbia Association has scheduled two public meetings to discuss replacing SplashDown and turning one of CA’s outdoor pools into a year-round indoor pool. SplashDown has been a source of problems for CA since at least 2007 when the interior of the tubes had to be re-caulked. In 2011 CA spent $84,000 making repairs to the water slides after structural issues were found in the stairs tower. Also, a recent engineering study noted that slides’ tubes need to be replaced, an expense that would cost the CA at least $250,000, according to CA’s Aquatics Master plan. In addition, the Master Plan notes that in 2011, general attendance of SplashDown amounted to 2,150 people and 419 birthday parties, a decline from 2007 when 5,000 people attended …
Friday, July 13, 2012
An athletic business journal praised the Columbia Association for giving access to its pools during the heat wave.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
We're supposed to get some substantial rain over the next couple of days — my garden (and yours) sure could have used this in July!
The Weather "Rain, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. High near 65. East wind 11 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. Wednesday night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 2am, then a chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 59. Southeast wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms." — The National Weather Service Shout-Out: I had a great time at Wednesday night's HoCo blogger gathering at the Stanford Grill. While my colleague Lisa Rossi slaved over her computer, live blogging the event to Howard County Patch…
andrew gutenson
6:57 pm on Saturday, February 9, 2013
I absolutely vote for the last option. I love big water slides, especially the pitch black ones. more ›