More than 1,200 people have signed a petition asking the City of Lawrence to discard a proposed $6 million renovation of the outdoor pool because the proposal will cut open swim space in half.

Lawrence city commissioners in August approved a debt-financed concept that would add a lazy river, a splash pad and a leisure pool.

The pool, at 727 Kentucky St., currently has about 8,100 square feet of open swim space; the project would eliminate more than half of that.

As of Thursday afternoon, an online petition started by Lawrence resident Holly Krebs had received nearly 1,300 signatures telling the city, “Don’t Shrink the Lawrence Pool! Fix It!”

“We think that the City Commission was forced into this decision because of the limited options they were given,” the petition states. “All three pool renovation proposals presented to the City Commission added a lazy river, were expensive, AND shrunk the current pool size!”

Those who sign are asking the Lawrence City Commission not to reduce the pool’s square footage or remove the long course lap lanes, and instead to fix the pool bathhouses, rebuild the shallow pool separate from the main pool and perform any required maintenance on the existing pool.

“Many people in the community didn’t have a sense of how great the loss would be,” Krebs said. “So I’m glad to bring everyone’s awareness to what we have that’s wonderful that we would be losing.”

Krebs and her family love the city pool, she said, and count down the months, weeks and days to its opening each year. She called the pool “a gem of a community resource.”

But she is worried that removing a large chunk of the open swim space would remove much of the pool area most packed with kids and families. Her concerns about the proposal, which she said were shared by many community members she talked to, boil down to one issue: not enough water space.

“I see it as the flexible play space in our pool,” Krebs said. “That’s where my kids play with their friends. They chase each other, they dive for rings, and so they really need the open, swimmable space to be able to do the type of play that they do, as well as practice swimming.”

City staff members and a consultant on the project presented the commission with three options for the pool renovation. Commissioners approved the in-budget concept. The two more expensive options would have preserved about 300 square feet more space in the lap pool.

“As a city, our goal is to ensure that all voices are heard and considered in our decision-making process,” said Luis Ruiz, the city’s director of parks, recreation, arts and culture.

He said the city had worked to engage in a robust community engagement process, but recognized not everyone may have been able to participate. 

“Feedback gathering is part of the community engagement process, and we respect that this petition is one way for residents to voice their opinion,” Ruiz said. “We are committed to ensuring that our final decisions reflect the needs and desires of our diverse community.”

But Krebs said she and many she talked to did participate. They just felt their comments weren’t taken into account by the city.  

Vice Mayor Mike Dever asked during the Aug. 13 commission meeting what it would cost to redo the pool the city currently has. Jeff Bartley, principal and engineer with Kansas City, Kansas-based Waters Edge Aquatic Design, said it would be “significantly more” — “If you were to redo the pool, you’re probably talking $15 to $20 million cost to do that. It’s a sizable structure,” Bartley said.

Consultants did not have answers to questions about what a no-build option would cost, or what it would cost to fix the pool that’s currently there and keep it going longer.

The outdoor pool hasn’t been renovated in nearly 30 years, according to the city’s website. 

After the city approved the renovation proposal, Krebs canvassed the outdoor pool, where she said she found most patrons were unaware of the effects the changes would have on the open swim area of the pool.

Although most were excited about the addition of a lazy river and splash pad, she said, they didn’t know the additions would mean removing a large chunk of the open swim area.  

She said some poolgoers were concerned about cutting some of the open swim area because the pool is already very crowded during peak summer hours.

Ruiz said the city is exploring how, with new pool configurations, it could shift schedules to minimize overcrowding. 

‘This is essential to training’

The pool also hosts practices for a number of local swim teams. The Aquahawks, a local youth swim team, uses the 50-meter-length pool for practice. The renovation proposal would remove the 50-meter pool, which runs the entire length of the current open swim area. 

John Schmidt, the Aquahawks head coach, said the 50-meter pool is essential to the team’s practice, because all of their competitions are in pools that length. The indoor pool in Lawrence has the capability to house a 50-meter pool, but Schmidt said they will not change the course lengths to make that possible. 

The team can only use the outdoor pool for two hours in the early morning Monday through Friday, where they share it with other local swim teams. 

Slide between these two images to see the current Outdoor Aquatic Center compared to the initial concept plan the Lawrence City Commission approved:

Abby Vorthmann, whose family has been involved with the Aquahawks for nearly a decade, said her dream is for the team to be able to host an outdoor swim meet, but the pool is too shallow to safely put in starting blocks and allow swimmers to dive.

She argued that the focus should be on increasing depth and usable water space.

“The proposal decreases usable water space and increases concrete lounging space,” she said. “The pool is already very crowded when it is open. I don’t think decreasing usable water space is the answer.”

Schmidt agreed, saying more open use of the pool would benefit the team. He said he wishes the pool renovations would add water space, not remove it, and said removing water space defeats the purpose of the renovations.

“We would like to have the pool available to actually use, rather than have to share and squeeze our team into only a few lanes for very limited time,” he said.

Annette McDonald, head coach of the Lawrence Masters Swim Group, said it was disappointing that all three options presented to the city commission removed the 50-meter-length from the pool. 

The Lawrence Masters Swim Group includes over 30 members, with swimmers’ ages ranging from their 20s to their 80s. 

“This is essential to training of the Masters and other teams in the community,” McDonald said of the 50-meter length pool. “We have been in existence for 31 years and are a key group for the swimming community of all ages to go to for healthy exercise and fitness. We need the 50-meter pool to continue this tradition.”

Masters board member Mark Begert said he was frustrated the concepts shifted focus toward water attractions, instead of usable swimming space.

“These designs are trying to squeeze an activity pool into a small space,” he said. “The area is too small to have a water park and pool. The pool area is being transformed into concrete trails between water activities, which we believe will be a big disappointment to the public.”

In recent years, the city ceased operations and maintenance of the Carl Knox Natatorium at Lawrence High School, and KU closed the pool at the Robinson Center to KU students, faculty and staff, so it is only available to swimming and diving team athletes. McDonald said these decisions highlight the need to maintain a multi-use pool space at the outdoor pool. 

“Given the project’s budget, maintaining a 50-meter pool was not seen as the highest priority, especially since a 50-meter competitive venue remains available at the Indoor Aquatics Center,” Ruiz said.

But Schmidt and Vorthmann said the indoor pool hasn’t allowed the team to set up the pool at 50 meters for their training. 

‘No comments could change their mind’

One of Krebs’ concerns was the lack of diversity in options presented to the city commission. All three options presented to city commissioners involved cutting large chunks of the open swim space.

Prior to creating the proposals, the project team commissioned three opinion surveys and collected thousands of comments about the pool. But the slideshow presented to city commissioners only included data from multi-select questions that asked survey participants to rank what they’d want at a renovated pool, not any of their comments.

Krebs said using the rankings don’t show a full picture. When people rank options, like they did in the survey, they likely aren’t thinking about what they could lose. If survey participants knew the addition of a lazy river would cut much of the open swim space, they may have reevaluated, Krebs said. 

“I don’t think that the community understood what we were losing,” Krebs said.

Krebs served on the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission, which she said helped inform her “belief in the power of public spaces to help build communities.” That made it even more important to her that the community have their voice heard in the renovation of the pool.

Schmidt, the Aquahawks coach, said the city has appeared interested in public feedback but didn’t change the designs to accommodate what local swim teams requested. 

He attended a handful of public meetings and had a meeting with the city and design group, but had no luck convincing them of how essential the 50-meter length was. 

“From the moment I was there, it was apparent that there was no saving the current pool,” Schmidt said. “Everyone was 110% committed to changing it and removing our vital use of the pool. No comments could change their mind.” 

Representatives from the Masters attended listening sessions, but they felt that key decisions were already made, and the option to keep the 50-meter pool was dismissed due to cost concerns. 

The city is working to, but has not yet confirmed with its community engagement partner, Vireo, whether community comments were explored during the community engagement process. 

Krebs met with parks and recreation management this week and she said they respectfully listened to her concerns. 

The Lawrence City Commission plans to revisit the renovation plans on Oct. 1. 

Meetings are open to the public at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., broadcast on Midco channel 25 and livestreamed on the city’s YouTube page, youtube.com/@lawrenceksvideo. Meeting agendas are posted on the city’s online portal.

Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.

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