After reading the thread, “bad pools” I can relate! My swim team has been cut to two lanes-making it difficult for 10-15 people to lap swim. We have had several problems including swimming against bugs who swim faster than we do, pool temperature at a constant 86 degrees, and a difficult club manager. We have tried talking with the club; however, it is the only pool in town. We have discussed the idea of building a pool; however, we have no idea where to begin. Our goal is to build a competitive pool that the high school, age group, and masters teams could use for practices and competitions. We are in a great location—a city of 250,000 and several small towns in the surrounding area. We would like to bring several new “aquatics” ideas to this area. We are only 10 years behind the rest of the world! We are having a difficult time finding a “ball park” estimate of what it would cost for a 50m pool with a diving well. Does anyone have some suggestions of where we should start? Thanks!!
Check out Marshall & Swift as a starting point. As a Commerical Real Estate Appraiser I use them occassionally to check against figures I've obtained from other sources. You won't get accurate figures the way you would if you got competitive bids from several pool contractors, but it will be a starting point. Note that in their section on Commercial Swimming Pools they state that Olympic competition or municipal pools may run 100% above listed costs. Also be aware that if you use their data you need to use their current cost multipliers as well as their local multipliers to adjust for your particular location in the Country. Their data is not free. They can be found on the web at www.marshallswift.com/index.asp
We would like to have a facility for divers and swimmers. We don't need a lot of seating; however, maybe enough for high school and masters swim meets. (300 people) My dream would be to have a 50 m pool with a separate diving well; however, the reality would most likely be a 25m people deep enough for diving and competitive swimming. Our high schools are in serious risk of loosing their programs. The pool depth that their using is 3'6'' not deep enough for competitive swimming. The diving area is deep enough; however, if swimming goes...so will diving.
Should cut the cost of construction.
Apparently a training pool costs 60K for 25 meters. Not including the cost of the building and plumbing and such and installation.
Emmett pointed out a while back that pools can try to be too much. His point was that instead of one big 50 meter pool it is wise to have a warm pool for water aerobics and a separate one for swimming, possibly even a third that is up around 90degrees for the arthritis classes (very popular at our place) which need temperatures higher than the water aerobics folks.
you might possibly consider one 25 meter indoor pool and a 25 meter outdoor pool to help cut cost of construction... and use an inflatable dome during the winter over the outdoor pool. Maybe the diving well could be outside and only used during the warm months... that might cut construction costs.
I would like to hear from people who swim in an outdoor pool covered with a dome during the winter. Is it acceptable? What has been your experience with it?
