Plans to construct a municipal swimming pool in Houston received a big boost with the award of a $250,000 grant.
The City of Houston received notification that it was selected to receive a federal Land, Water and Conservation Fund grant for the project. Voters also in April approved a one-cent sales tax with half the proceeds dedicated for parks and recreation.
The swimming pool — built in 1970s — is located at West Side Park. Work was completed last week on a 20 x 30 splash pad with a variety of water features that will be available when the pool opens on Memorial Day. It will accommodate 20-30 children at a time and feature fresh water in several features. An old city fire truck will be nearby for kids to play on.
Elaine Campbell, who wrote the grant, along with Parks and Recreation Director Kayla Sloan, said the city will have two years to use the proceeds of the grant for pool construction. Under the terms of the grant, the city will seek bids for engineering and construction for the pool. Three bids are required.
The eight-lane pool would be built at the current location. The cost is estimated at about $1.2 million.
Among the features of the pool will be: zero entry kids area with animal spouts; reinstallation of the current water slide, rock climbing, a low-dive board, zipline, adjustable basketball goal and a swim lift that meets federal disability standards. No updates of the bath house are included in the pricing.
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