The long-awaited Swimming Pool Meeting was held last night at the Natchitoches Arts Center located at 716 Second Street. Don Barker, organizer of the meeting, opened to a standing-room-only crowd of swimming pool supporters.
Upon completion of opening remarks and a short presentation by Barker, the crowd was asked to break up in 7 small groups to discuss the seven questions listed below. Once the small groups were finished, the leader from each group gave their findings to the questions:
What kind of indoor facility will we build?
- 25-yard pool
- 8 lanes
- One side 6 feet deep
- Other side 15 feet deep
- ADA access
- Blocks for diving
- Adequate parking
- A secondary pool for water aerobics and hydro therapy
- Showers and locker rooms
How much will it cost?
- Build Costs were estimated at $315.00 per foot
- Operating/Maintenance costs are estimated at $25.00 per foot on an ongoing basis.
How will it be paid for?
- Federal Grants
- Waterway Commission
- Community Health Grants
- Private Funding
- Council on Aging
- Insurance Companies
- Membership Fees
- Rural Development
- YMCA organization
Where will it be built?
- On the NSU campus
- The old Recreational/Golf site
- The NEW City/NSU Recreation site on Hwy 6
- Renovate and Cover the outdoor pool currently located at the Rec. Complex
What organizations should be involved in Planning the facility? What organizations should be involved in the construction of the facility? (#5 & #6 were combined)
- City of Natchitoches
- Parish of Natchitoches
- State of Louisiana
- Local Doctors
- NRMC
- NSU
- Boys & Girls Club
- LSMSA
- NCHS Swim team and coach
- NSU Swim team and coach
What organization(s) will operate and maintain the facility?
- Who will operate and maintain the facility will be determined greatly by who and how it is paid for. We must make sure that once building costs are met, there must be enough money to operate and maintain the facility over its useful life. Don’t build and then defer maintenance for 30 years!
The next public meeting to form committees will be held on August 27, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited; seating is limited. Contact Don Barker at 318-357-1590 for more information.
You may watch the meeting and review the pictures below.
Forcing a pretend choice between “libraries” and “swimming as wellness” is like saying “I get paying for peanut butter, but this bread S*** has got to go”…maybe go to the Library and browse the adult section.
The Natchitoches Parish Library System serves a lot of people and do a great job. The staff is great and very helpful with every question I have. Believe it or not there are still several of us that read books.
before we dive off the deep end…….I myself don’t want to pay for a pool,and yet we forget God has given us two pools in our fine city.Cane and Sibley
lake our at your beck n call.
Figure out that we don’t need 2.2 million going to libraries in the parish and you will have plenty of money. Libraries now need computers and minimal staff. No need for over 2 million dollars of taxes a year.
Our parish libraries are an asset to our community. Thank God we have people who realize that and voted in favor of the millage. Our library workers deserve fair wages, and the programs are highly utilized by our community and require money.