The City of Lawrence is seeking community feedback on the shape, size and amenities of the new shallow section of the outdoor pool.
After commissioners voted in August to approve a pool renovation that would have added new features like a lazy river but cut open swim space roughly in half, more than 1,000 people — now more than 1,700 — signed a petition asking the city to reconsider the decision. The commission discarded the plan and asked city staff to look into a renovation that maintained the pool’s current configuration.
The new configuration preserves the existing 50-meter lap and diving pool, while replacing the zero-depth entry shallow pool, the pool deck and below-deck piping and the large water slide.
City staff will gather feedback from 8 a.m. to noon and 3:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Indoor Aquatic Center, 4706 Overland Drive.
Staff will present two concepts for how the shallow pool could be oriented and shaped. They will also show a list of possible amenities, including a toddler slide and water volleyball.
Community members can also provide feedback through an online survey. The survey will close at 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27.
This is the beginning of continuing community engagement plans for the project, according to a city news release.
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a recent graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is an alum of Lawrence High School, where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was also named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read more of his work for the Times here.
