As the Village of Wellington gets closer to building a replacement for the aging Wellington Aquatics Complex, an underutilized parcel of land at the southwestern corner of Village Park has emerged as a leading contender for a new pool site.
At a workshop meeting on Monday, Dec. 12, the Wellington Village Council reviewed seven possible sites for a new aquatics complex. The Village Park site, located near the back entrance on 120th Avenue South, got the most support when the council was asked to provide a shortlist of sites to be sent to a consulting firm that will design the new facility.
Also at the workshop, the council considered the future of the Lake Wellington Professional Centre, the 10-acre civic site near the Mall at Wellington Green and the K-Park parcel on State Road 7.
Assistant Planning, Zoning & Building Director Michael O’Dell provided the council with an overview of the seven sites that could serve as possible locations for the pool complex.
Three of the sites — the 10-acre Wellington Green Park site, the K-Park property and Greenbriar Park — were quickly dismissed by the council members as inappropriate sites for the pool.
A site on Birkdale Drive near Elbridge Gale Elementary School did generate some discussion, but that site would require a complex negotiation with the school district and could potentially create traffic difficulties in the area.
That left the Village Park site, the current site at Town Center and a site at Wellington High School that was written into a lease agreement with a school district before a new park was built there two years ago.
Those three sites will be forwarded to the consultant for design concepts, however, only the Village Park site would easily give Wellington enough space to create the large, world-class facility that some council members envision. This would include a modern competition pool, a separate recreation pool and additional aquatic amenities.
The existing pool complex was purchased with the old Wellington Club East site in the 1990s. It dates back to the early years of the community but was renovated in the late 1990s and again in 2010. However, its basic design hasn’t changed, and it is not considered a modern pool design. The village has issues using it for both recreational programs and swim competitions.
“What is the current state of our pool today?” Vice Mayor Michael Drahos asked.
Village Manager Jim Barnes said that the existing pool will need major renovations within a few years since its mechanics and systems are close to failing.
“Regardless of what location is ultimately selected, we believe that within two years, we have to be in a pool replacement mode,” Barnes said.
Already, expensive work is being done. For example, a filter replacement that will close the pool over the holidays this month will use a new system that consultants say can be used with a new pool in the future, either at the current site or elsewhere.
Barnes said that the pool needs to be separated between a competition pool and a pool for recreation purposes, and that the current splash pad and slides are out of date.
The existing pool would be out of service for 15 to 18 months if the same site was used as the replacement pool site, he said.
“We would only be able to keep this operational if we build somewhere else,” Barnes said.
The money necessary for the work ranges from $3.75 million to renovate the existing pool, going up to $13 million for a larger, entirely new facility with more amenities. The low-price option would buy the village a few more years, but the higher-priced proposals would create a facility lasting for the next 30 to 40 years.
“My problem with moving the pool is that I don’t think any of the other locations are ideal,” Mayor Anne Gerwig said. “When we talk about Town Center, we are really talking about someplace for the community to gather.”
Councilman Michael Napoleone said that he did not believe that there is synergy between the pool and the rest of the site.
“If we want to be future thinking, we need to have the same kind of world-class facility like we do everything else in Wellington,” he said.
Drahos agreed. “Since we are faced with this expense, we should make a decision that makes sense,” he said. “Most amount of synergy would be if we put it at Village Park where all our other athletics take place.”
The 12-acre site near the Village Park entrance off 120th Avenue South is currently used as a Public Works Department storage facility.
Councilman John McGovern suggested putting the competition pool and the recreation pool at different places. This could make the current site, the high school site or the Birkdale site work better, he suggested.
Napoleone wanted to avoid the WHS site, if possible.
“The high school is my least favorite site,” he said. “I think it is too small, and we are cramming too much stuff on that footprint.”
Councilwoman Tanya Siskind asked, “Are two pool locations really an option?”
Barnes said that it is from a space perspective, but it would not be the preference of village staff, which would need to staff and maintain both facilities.
Gerwig reiterated that she would prefer to keep the pool where it is but would consider moving it to Village Park. “Those are the only two that in my mind are in play,” she said.
Barnes said that the consultant will return with design and cost options for the current site, the Village Park site and the high school site.
Lake Wellington Professional Centre
Nine years after the village bought the Lake Wellington Professional Centre, the time may be drawing near that Wellington will close the facility and repurpose the land as part of the Phase III expansion of Town Center.
Deputy Village Manager Tanya Quickel told the council that if the LWPC is to continue to operate, it will need approximately $500,000 in repair work. That includes $400,000 for a new roof and $75,000 to $100,000 for a new, modern phone system.
Neither expense is a surprise. The village bought the facility in December 2013 with the understanding that the roof was past its lifespan. Replacement has been delayed through repair work, but that cannot continue much longer, Quickel said.
“Our recommendation is that we can no longer wait to replace the roof,” she said. “The telephone system is over 30 years old, and we are no longer able to get parts for that.”
The facility is home to 66 leased office clients and 63 virtual clients. It also houses a few village offices.
When the village bought the facility for a net $4 million, it was primarily to gain control of the land, which abuts the Town Center site and the Wellington Promenade, for future expansion.
Several council members have long been critical of having the village in the business of providing office space.
“It is government-subsidized office space, which is why the private sector can’t compete with it,” Napoleone said. “We are running a Wellington product at below-market rates.”
Gerwig said that she would like to see a replacement for the LWPC available before it is shut down.
“That space performs as a business incubator for this community,” she said.
Gerwig favored a public-private partnership on a different village-owned site, such as the 10-acre mall site, which she said could accommodate a cultural center, a small convention space and also office space to replace the LWPC.
McGovern said that the time is right to move forward with Town Center.
“We bought this to land-bank to have that additional waterfront land,” he said. “We need to get out of the landlord-tenant business as a municipality and move forward with Phase III.”
The council could not vote on the issue at the workshop meeting, but the future of the LWPC is expected to be on the council’s Tuesday, Jan. 10 agenda.
Wellington Green Park
Next up was a discussion of Wellington Green Park and its future uses. Barnes said that its value is estimated at $5.7 million. He asked if it should be put on the market, or if a request for proposals (RFP) should be sent out for either an outright sale or perhaps a public-private partnership.
“We should discuss what we want on it,” Gerwig said. “I don’t really like the idea of putting it out to the public with no parameters. We are not here to just get the highest sale price for the property.”
Other council members said they would support an RFP to see if there are good ideas. “I don’t see the downside to asking,” Napoleone said.
K-Park Site
Finally, the council briefly touched on the 66-acre K-Park site at the corner of SR 7 and Stribling Way.
The village has received an unsolicited offer from Katz & Associates and American Medical Buildings for $25 million for the site for office space with some retail. Barnes recommended against accepting the offer because it is well below what they believe is the market value for the property.
The last major discussion of K-Park found that the community wanted a project with a large park there, although some other uses might be included. It is currently being held by the village with an agricultural lease for row crops.
The council agreed to reject the offer and continue to hold the land for future use with a significant community benefit.
