CONWAY -- While Conway residents debate the merits of an indoor recreational center, one of the city's much smaller neighbors is preparing to build two indoor swimming pools.
In Russellville, about 45 miles northwest of Conway, architects are working on final drawings for a $5.5 million indoor aquatic center that will feature two pools: a 25-meter one and an 1,800-square-foot therapy pool.
The latter will include ramps with rails so that people in wheelchairs can roll into it.
Russellville Mayor Randy Horton said Friday that while there's been a dispute over who will be the construction manager, the decision to build the pools was not a contentious one in his city of roughly 28,000 residents. Thousands more live outside the city limits.
"We're hoping to get started on construction the last part of the summer," he said. Construction is expected to take 12-14 months, he added.
In Conway, the process has been anything but smooth. There's disagreement over where a public pool should go and whether the city should even be planning to build one.
Tab Townsell, mayor of the city of about 64,000 residents, has proposed that Conway pay $3.5 million for a 22-acre site that includes a building covering about 5 acres along Dave Ward Drive on the city's far west side.
He wants the city to turn the building, formerly used by Spirit Homes to manufacture mobile homes, into an indoor community center that could house amenities such as as a 50-meter pool, tennis courts and maybe even an ice-hockey rink. He said the construction could be done in stages.
Alabama-based Clayton Homes now owns the building. No decisions have been made on what would definitely go in the building if it's bought.
Referring to the Russellville plan, Townsell said in an email, "And they are less than half Conway's size. Actually, they are just following what has been a strong trend in progressive up-and-coming larger cities. There has been a host of others like Russellville in recent years."
Last week, the Conway City Council agreed to conduct a 40-day study before proceeding with any purchase to determine if the Dave Ward Drive property would be suitable.
In a text message Friday, Townsell said that if aldermen approve a purchase and sale agreement at their May 12 meeting, the next step would be a vote to hire a company "to investigate the condition of the building and any environmental concerns as well as to determine its suitability for retrofitting to our purposes."
Some aldermen and residents have expressed concerns about "unknown" factors at the site, including whether the building is feasible for a large pool and whether the ground is up to par environmentally.
Others have raised questions about operational costs and the location, saying the site isn't easily accessible by bicyclists and pedestrians and is too far from the city's east side.
Still others, including tennis players and parents of young swimmers, have urged the city to move forward.
Townsell sent out several emails titled "The Case for Spirit Homes" to aldermen and others last week.
In one of them, subtitled "A Tale of Four Cities," he shared operating-budget information on aquatic or community centers in four other Arkansas cities -- Bentonville, Clarksville, Jacksonville and Sherwood. He also included the budget for the leaseholder of North Little Rock's Rebsamen Tennis Center in Burns Park.
"While many naysayers will predict the 'worst of times' with the opening of a community center, many other communities seem to be offering their citizens more of the 'best of times' by providing more activities year around for their citizens," Townsell wrote.
Alderman David Grimes, speaking at the City Council meeting last week, said, "If this building will work, it'll be phenomenal. If it won't work, we need to walk away. ... It doesn't matter where you go, it's going to cost a lot of money."
There would be fewer unknowns if the city built a recreational center from scratch, Grimes said.
"I know we need a swimming pool and [indoor] tennis courts," Alderman Theodore Jones Jr. said.
But Jones added, "There's too much ... not known. ... I don't want to get in the position that we own this building, and it's just sitting there."
Alderman Mary Smith said she and others have long thought the city needs a public pool, but she doesn't know if the site Townsell has suggested is the right place.
David Crow, a co-founder of the Faulkner County Tea Party, said the city needs a thorough feasibility study, as well as a definite plan on what would go into the building, before proceeding with a purchase.
"The building itself is old," Crow said. "It has sat there vacant for [about] 10 years. Every piece of copper wiring has [been removed]. You don't know what's under it. They don't even know if ... they can build a swimming pool" there.
While Crow isn't advocating building a pool, he said a more practical idea would be an outdoor one at one or both of Conway's two city-owned sports centers. He believes the city has more pressing needs, such as better police salaries and road maintenance, however.
Townsell has noted that revenue from the city's advertising-and-promotion tax cannot be used to fund police pay and much street work.
Besides, Crow said, residents can pay to use local college pools, a private one that charges admission or local country-club pools.
"We have multiple pools across the city," he said.
"I favor having nice parks and things. I don't necessarily feel like we have to have a Rolls Royce. I'm pretty satisfied with the Honda," Crow said.
Even if the site Townsell supports turns out to be a good one, Crow said, the city should ask itself how much it will cost to build the facilities and how much maintenance costs will be.
Townsell said that in recent years, "Conway has focused on other things in our catch-up regarding parks. What we've caught up with has been very progressive and has set a quality standard in many ways.
"However, as we opportunistically address these other issues, we are rushing up upon what is not only a glaring neglect for Conway in regard to recent city trends in Arkansas but also what is an even more glaring historical absence of any public pool facility in Conway," he added.
"This pool issue doesn't go away with a decision not to pursue Spirit Homes," he said.
State Desk on 05/03/2015