Fairview Park residents tour the city’s new recreation center Saturday morning. Dubbed the Gemini Center, the facility is scheduled to open by the end of the year. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Pool won’t be ready for rec center opening
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published Oct. 24, 2007

The city’s new recreation center is scheduled to open by the end of the year. Everything will be ready for members. Except the pool.

The Michigan-based contractor, Camp Services, has fallen behind its own schedule at completing the work, according to Fred Kelly, construction manager for rec center.

“We’re not very happy about it,” Kelly told West Life.

The rec center, dubbed the Gemini Center, will actually have two pools — a competition pool and a leisure pool with two water slides.

Kelly said it was impossible to say how long the pools would be delayed.

“We’re working with the contractor on that,” Kelly said.

Simply increasing manpower for the pool construction at this point will not necessarily increase its completion, Kelly explained.

The contractor for the rec center’s competition pool, in the foreground, and the leisure pool, in the upper left of the photo, has fallen behind schedule, city officials report. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Fairview Park Recreation Department Director Tim Pinchek described it as “a short delay.”

“Everything but the pool will be open by the end of December,” Pinchek said. “The pool will open shortly thereafter.”

Mayor Eileen Patton alluded to the delay during a candidates night forum Oct. 18, saying the city is working with the contractor.

“We have every intention of opening the center between Christmas and New Year’s,” Patton said. “Everybody will absolutely love it. It’s gorgeous.”

The pool delay is the first significant snag to hit the $50-million Gemini Project, a joint city-school capital improvement project voters approved in February of 2005.

Kelly noted that all of the other 44 prime contractors and vendors on the city half of Gemini have come through on time. Everything is on budget, city officials report.

The school district’s major Gemini Project component, the new Gilles-Sweet Elementary School, opened on time in August.

Over 300 memberships have been sold for the center, Pinchek said. The goal for the first year is to sell 3,500 to 4,000 memberships, he added.

About 250 residents toured the nearly completed rec center Saturday morning, Pinchek said. Additional tours were planned for yesterday evening and on Nov. 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

In addition to opening by the end of December, the rec center will host an open house and gala Jan. 12.

The center, when completed, will be home to the recreation department’s administrative offices, currently located at Nelson Russ Park.

On the Net:

• The Gemini Project
• Fairview Park Recreation Department