New Urbanna Pool Coming

Will have six competition lanes; expected to open 2023 or 2024

by Tom Chillemi –

The Urbanna Town Council voted last week to move forward with building a new community swimming pool in Taber Park.

Council voted 6-0 to authorize Town Administrator Garth Wheeler and the pool committee to negotiate contracts in an amount not to exceed $1.5 million for the construction of a new pool and to execute any necessary contract subject to final review and approval of the town attorney.

Councilor Bill Goldsmith said the pool and decking is estimated to cost $800,000, with a bath house, concession stand and accessory buildings additional.

The construction company is Douglas Aquatics located in Richmond.

Design

At a previous meeting Mayor Barbara Hartley said the committee and council members liked a pool built by Douglas Aquatics and have chosen that design.

The proposed pool will be 25 meters long with six lanes for competition at the main pool. There is a sliding board but no diving board. In addition there is a splash pad with a spray tower in a shallow area. It has a “zero entry,” which is a gently sloping bottom allowing users to walk into the pool without using a ladder.

Site work

The first step is to find stable soils that will support the pool. This site work is to be done by Bay Design located in Urbanna, said Goldsmith. The soils under the current pool, which is more than 50 years old, are unstable, Goldsmith said.

Financing

Goldsmith, who serves as chairman of the council’s finance committee, said that financing $800,000 for 20 years at 4% will have a debt service of a little less than $60,000 per year.

“That’s why we need to fundraise and have outside sources of funds to keep the loan amount down,” said Goldsmith.

“We have a year to cancel the contract,” said Goldsmith. “In the meantime we have a plan and model that we can use for fund commitments.”