Published: July 03, 2008 09:27 pm      

Parks, pool on track

City continues progress

By Derrick Miller

The Duncan Banner

Sticking with the plan to update Duncan Parks and Recreation Authority members on the progress of Abe Raizen Park improvements and maintenance agreements, and Fuqua Pool’s renovations, Duncan Community Development Director Dana Schoening discussed each of these projects at Tuesday’s regular meeting.

The first thing Schoening talked about was the work at Abe Raizen Park and the related timeline.

Although the timeline was made to be more realistic for the June meeting, the dates are still running on schedule, he said.

One of the top priorities with the project is the grading project for the soccer fields.

This portion of the improvements went out for bid. Bids were scheduled to be opened this afternoon. .

“We’re looking to get more bids this time around,” Schoening said.

A bid was taken to Duncan City Council in May, but because it came in drastically more than the authority and council had expected, it was no approved.

This laid groundwork for another bidding period.

Another part of the Abe Raizen improvement project is the parking lot, Phase 2, which is out to bid. Authority members also talked about the restrooms and concessions, which goes out to bid July 18.

The board also discussed lighting, which could be challenging for the football fields.

“Football has more complexity than soccer because of existing poles,” Schoening said.

He said the poles around the football fields could cause a problem because it is unknown if they can sup

port the weight of the new lights. Once this is figured out, the next step will be to decide what to do with the poles.

“The lighting for the soccer fields is right on schedule,” he said.

The next update discussed was the Abe Raizen Park maintenance agreements development.

On the city’s budget, the Parks Department has gotten permission to hire someone to take care of maintenance at the park. This will allow the city to take on more tasks, which had initially been conducted by the various sports leagues. This employee would work closely with the sports organizations.

“Abe Raizen is important because there is a lot of work out there,” Schoening said.

He said it’s important to find someone who knows what he or she is doing to keep the field in top shape. The plan is to have the maintenance agreement in place by the beginning of football season in the fall.

“Our goal is to have a professional-looking field,” he said. “We have quite an investment out there.”

The final update discussed by the authority was the Fuqua Pool Renovation Phase 1, Task 2 study timeline.

Schoening said he has talked to representatives of Burbach Aquatics, the company dealing with the Fuqua Pool project, and worked with them to set a timeline.

He said a public review will take place sometime between Oct. 1 and Dec. 1. This will allow the city to have its own reviews before opening to public opinion.

The final decision on what the city wants to do with the project will happen between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1, 2009. Additional designs or improvements are expected between Jan. 1 and March 1.

Bids would be awarded between March 1 and June 1. Construction is expected to begin once the pool season ends next summer.

For now, the use of Fuqua and other public pools in Duncan will be taken into account to determine the need of the renovations and the pool itself.

“Burbach is going to do analyses of pool needs,” Schoening said. “They’re going to look at the demand.”

He said he will continue updates to the authority on these projects each month.