REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 11/02/2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Public Works Department
SUBJECT: Creation of a new Capital Improvement Project and transferring funding for the demolition of the City Park pool, pool house, and abandoned water tank.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to authorize the creation of a new Capital Improvement Project titled “City Park Pool and Building Demolition”, and to transfer funding from the Demolition of Armory Building project at City Park to this project.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Authorize the creation of a new Capital Improvement Project titled “City Park Pool and Building Demolition, Project No. 2022-18.”
b. Authorize a transfer of $750,000, within Measure X funding, from the existing Capital Improvement Project No. 76370 Demolition of Armory Building at City Park to the newly created Capital Improvement Project City Park Pool and Building Demolition.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The City of Corona is committed to building and sustaining high-quality infrastructure and creating a sense of place, as evidenced by the City’s Strategic Plan Goals. An identified strategy for achieving these goals is redeveloping City Park, which is currently being studied through a master plan process devoted specifically for the renovation of City Park.
As the oldest park in Corona, City Park has seen numerous changes throughout the years. The City’s first community pool, the Municipal Plunge, was built at City Park in the 1930s and was later replaced in the 1960s by the current City pool and pool building. The pool and pool building were remodeled in 2001 to make necessary repairs, re-pipe the pool equipment and add accessibility features to the pool building. These repairs helped to extend the life of the pool in order to continue to serve the needs of the community. Prior to 2020, the City of Corona offered aquatics programs at City Park pool, which included lap swim, recreation swim, club swimming, learn-to-swim programs, site rentals for parties, and open waterslide time. Over the years, the pool and park as a whole, park has aged and some of its amenities including the pool are past their useful life, resulting in the pool closing, and some park activities moving to other locations.
ANALYSIS:
The City Park pool was closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pool was later drained and assessed in 2021 by Aquatic Design Group, a full-service aquatic consulting firm that, for the last 38 years, has specialized in swimming pool and water feature architecture and engineering. The assessment report identified a number of deficiencies at the swimming pool and pool building. These include:
• The need for an updated configuration to better accommodate the desired programming, including a deeper area to accommodate safe diving starts and additional lanes to support both current needs and potential future hosting of swim competitions.
• Swimming pool deck is cracked, crumbling, patched, heaving, rough, and uneven in numerous places, lacks in-deck drainage, and is not Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant.
• Significant cracks in the pool’s plaster, including staining, delamination, spalling, and separation, resulting in potential hazards such as sharp surfaces, increased pathogen growth sites, and structural failure of the pool shell.
• An inadequate number of restroom toilets, lavatories, and showers. The facilities do not provide patron privacy, security, and protection from the elements.
• The overall pool facility does not have features of modern aquatic centers, which would decrease maintenance while increasing safety, including separate chemical rooms.
• The waterslide is in fair condition but has areas of concern, including cracks in the slide structure and rust on the bottom of the stairs.
After the end of COVID-19 restrictions, City staff kept the City Park pool closed due to the pool condition and results of the assessment. Swim activities were transferred from City Park to the pool at Auburndale Park and Community Center. Cost estimates for repairs to the pool to bring it into safety compliance total $2,133,265. These costs do not include any needed ADA improvements, restroom additions, deck corrections, and the repairs do not come with a guarantee on how long they will extend the life of the pool.
Based upon the high cost for repairs, existing hazardous conditions, and the development of the current City Park Master Plan and Citywide Park Master Plan, which will help identify the recreation desires and needs of the community, City staff recommends the demolition of the pool and pool house building at City Park.
In addition to the pool and pool house, City staff recommends the demolition of the abandoned water storage tank/pump station at the site, as shown on Exhibit 1. This tank is partially buried and was originally used to provide water to the Municipal Plunge swimming pool. The tank has since been abandoned and serves no purpose at the site. It attracts unwanted activities, including graffiti and vandalism. Staff, therefore, requests sufficient funding in the project budget to remove the tank in conjunction with the removal of the pool and pool house. Any items of a historic nature at the water tank will be identified, removed, and preserved during the project process.
Staff recommends a transfer of $750,000 from an existing Capital Improvement Project No. 76370, the Demolition of the Armory Building at City Park to fund this project. Project 76370 removed the former Corona Armory and two ancillary metal buildings at City Park to eliminate elements that attracted negative and unwanted activities and provide a clean slate for future plans for City Park. The Armory Building Demolition was completed under the original estimated budget of $1,100,000, and there is currently $845,668 remaining in the project account. Staff will return to City Council to award the project bid for the City Park Pool and Building Demolition once a contractor is selected.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Approval of the recommended actions will result in a transfer of $750,000, within Measure X funding, from the existing Capital Improvement Project No. 76370 Demolition of Armory Building at City Park to the newly created Capital Improvement Project City Park Pool and Building Demolition. The current available balance in the Demolition of Armory Building at City Park CIP No. 76370 is $845,668, which is sufficient for the recommended actions.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is categorically exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the commonsense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is to create a new Capital Improvement Project and transfer funding, and there is no possibility that adopting this action will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required at this time.
PREPARED BY: TRACY MARTIN, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: SAVAT KHAMPHOU, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Project Location Map
2. Exhibit 2 - Existing Site Pictures