A work session after Monday’s Great Bend City Council meeting had members looking at future projects funded by the Quality of Life Sales Tax.
A major overhaul of the Wetlands Waterpark, which would be a bond project, was discussed, as was the plan for improvements on the south side of Brit Spaugh Park.
Wetlands Waterpark
The Quality of Life Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) would be a bond project that was in the original Quality of Life Survey, Burns said.
“At that time, it was $6 million at 20 years at 3%. Those interest rates are no longer. ... The rate is currently at 5.27%”
Burns noted that he’s said multiple times that the pool is “a ticking time bomb” because of its age. “This is a 1936 pool,” he said, later noting it could “fail at any moment.” The substrate is leaking and the pool “is going to be needing some big time work in the future.”
Public Lands Director Scott Keeler and his crew keep it going, Burns continued. However, “My worst fear would be that we don’t have a pool in the middle of summer.”
Last year, approximately 22,000 kids and adults used the pool while it was open.
Burns asked the JEO engineering consultants to look at concept drawings. At present, the pool is “just shy of 12,000 square foot.” The concept drawings have about half of that square footage. The cost ranges from $729 per square foot to $1,100 per square foot. He asked JEO for a ballpark figure of what Great Bend’s pool might cost. “They’re a little leery to give you any concrete square footage number, just because every scenario is different.”
While one concept is based on a 6,000 square foot pool, Mayor Cody Schmidt said he would hate to cut the present pool size in half.
“I understand we have a budget and we have to keep on that budget, but I think there were things that we need to dive into and have studies done.”
Using a previous estimate of $875 per square foot, Burns said a 7,000 square foot pool would come to $6.125 million. He was aiming for a $6 million bond. At $729 per square foot, it would be $5.8 million.
“So, I think until we dive in with an aquatics consultant ... I think that’s when you’re really going to know what that should cost.”
The improvements that turned the municipal pool into the Wetlands Waterpark are 20 years old. One thing the city was unable to do back then was add a Lazy River feature. Burns said one concept looked at does have that feature. He cautioned that two additional lifeguards are needed in that case and the city has trouble finding lifeguards every summer.
Other features could also be considered, depending on the layout chosen.
Council members suggested talking to Hoisington and Larned officials about their newer pools.
There was also discussion about the admission price of the waterpark. In Hoisington, residents have $1 added to their monthly water bill and can use the pool at no charge. Burns said Great Bend could cover the cost of admissions if water bills were increased $2-3 per month.
Talking with an aquatics consultant is the next step. Timing would be important, Burns said.
“The idea here would be ... you go through this pool season and the next pool season for 2026. The day it closes, that following Monday, you’re starting demolition in order to be back up and running for 2027. It’s going to be a tight turnaround based on whatever square footage you do.”
Burns concluded that in his discussions with Keeler, the city could also look at repairing the 1936 pool with a commitment of $1 million or "a couple million dollars."
“You could shine this thing up,” he said, “but the concrete is ... just going to continually deteriorate.”
Councilwoman Rickee Maddox responded, “Is that lipstick on a pig?”
Brit Spaugh Project
The Brit Spaugh Park project was tabled last April when the lone bid came in at about $2.8 million, while the expected price was $2.1 million.
“I think some of it was how we bid,” Burns told the council. “We only had one bidder on that. I think if we put that back out to bid with some different parameters on the bidding, I think we could get a little bit lower costs.”
Money previously set aside, the monies budgeted for 2025 and 2026, along with unencumbered funds available, comes to $1.8 million. The Great Bend Recreation Commission previously pledged $340,000.
“I don’t know if that’s still there. That would be a conversation with them,” Burns said.
The Rec has already looked at adding basketball courts that were previously in the Brit Spaugh Project to the park across from Eisenhower Elementary School.
The Brit Spaugh Project includes pickleball courts directly east of the National Guard Armory that is across the street from the park.
“That’s something that we’d still like to get done,” Burns said. “We paid $111,000 total for the drawings on that ... hoping that there was some private money that came into that. We did not get any. So we do have that project shovel-ready whenever we do want to go forward.
