This letter was written by the Director of Recreation as a response to the many questions by neighbors near the pool

Fri, Jun 12, 2020 2:49 pm

Let me introduce myself and Elizabeth Romanowski, copied to this email. My name is Leslie Pickard and as the Director of Recreation, I am dedicated to is Aquatics across the city. Elizabeth is our Facilities Capital Projects Supervisor.

First off, we want to thank you again for reaching out with inquiries about the Congress Park Pool reconstruction, an Elevate Denver Bond project.  As you know, the public voted in support of specific Bond projects which will enhance the city and ensure our relished community assets are available to residents for generations to come.  Congress Park Pool is a prized piece of the community; it was built in the 1950s and many of the underground systems and infrastructure still date to that decade.  The existing pool is energy inefficient, very costly to maintain, requires major improvements and is at the end of its useful life.  It is for these reasons Congress Park Pool was selected as an Elevate Denver Bond project for full reconstruction of the facility.

We understand this pool means a lot to its’ passionate users and the surrounding neighborhood; therefore, we were intentional about opening up for public input throughout the design process. This included a pop-up event, two public meetings and focus group sessions during a period of 9 months. Unfortunately, due to the virus stay at home order, we were not able to present the final design at the final public meeting that was scheduled for April 9^th. In order to keep the community informed, the design team put together a short video to present the final design and showcase the community requested features in the new pool facility. We understand a video does not substitute the personal connection and discussion that occurs when a community gathers, but we did not want the virus restrictions to keep us from sharing the final design for Congress Park Pool.

Please see below for responses to the video comments:

• The video indicates the size of the pools and area of yard space grew significantly
  • The youth pool is 50% larger and an additional 10,000 sf of lawn is now within the North fence line.
    • The lap pool added the 25-yard cross course, but the area of water is roughly the same as the existing pool
    • This ‘L’ shaped design is more efficient and will allow both lap swimmers and non-lap swimmers the ability to use the pool simultaneously
  • During our outreach efforts these items were consistently rated as the highest priorities
  • This does not mean the overall capacity of the facility will significantly increase.
    • The pool occupancy capacity is dictated by pool operations
      • Please see below for more on operations and capacity
• Additionally, there is mention of new seating on the hill
  • As indicated above, a portion of the North fence moved further North, this created more lawn space for seating within the pool facility
    • There are no actual seats or built/constructed components on the North hill
    • It’s the same grass area, just within the fence now
  • The access path North of the pool is maintained, along with the prized trees in this area
  • The East fence line will be located close to where it is now
    • The open space and existing trees East of the pool are maintained outside of the pool fence
  • The fence lines on the South and West will be located close to their current locations
    • Prized trees were maintained

Please see below for responses to capacity comments:

• As mentioned above the actual capacity of the pool is not excepted to increase significantly with the new design
• This is because the overall operations of the pool will remain the same as they are at the current pool.
  • The pool occupancy capacity is dictated by the number of Lifeguards per hour
    • The staffing of guards for this facility will remain similar to previous years
      • We expect maximum capacity to be between 300-375 people, depending on the day of the week
      • Once at capacity, additional visitors are not allowed in until someone leaves the facility
    • All Denver aquatics facilities are run this way
  • There will be periods of programing that will further reduce the capacity of the facility
    • Lap Swim, Swim Lessons and Aerobics typically have a much smaller crowd of people, no more than 75 with parents watching their kids
  • While the facility (from a building code perspective) can accommodate up to 600 people, Denver aquatics would never be able to safely guard or accommodate the number of visitors for such a large capacity
    • The average number of visitors per day in 2018 = 353
    • The average number of visitors per day in 2019 = 298

During the outreach process, the communities’ love for the existing pool facility as it is (acknowledging improvements are required due to its age) was expressed. The new design is mindful of that, as well as the surrounding park, open space and neighborhood community; therefore, it replaces the existing pool facility components basically in place. It is for these reasons, we do not foresee an increased impact beyond what has occurred in previous seasons.

While the overall hardscape within the project boundary was reduced, the project did not increase the current parking lot area. It does, however, include a more efficient striping layout which actually increases the number of spaces in the exiting lot. Accessible parking was increased 150%, standard parking by 33% – equaling an overall 38% increase in spaces in the lot.

Denver Parks and Recreation values the feedback neighborhood residents provide. Thank you for your continued interest in the design and reconstruction of this community asset. We look forward to serving Denver residents at this new pool facility for the next half century and more.

Thank you, stay safe, stay healthy and have a great weekend.