Guthrie to rebuild Highland Park pool with smaller, accessible design; $2 million budget estimate

Guthrie city staff and the project team presented April 1 plans to reconstruct the Highland Park municipal pool, replacing most of a roughly 7,000‑square‑foot historic pool with a smaller, modern recreational pool and upgraded bathhouse and equipment spaces. The presentation described a roughly $2,000,000 preliminary budget and a schedule that would put construction documents out in May and construction later in the summer.

The project team said the new pool would be sited within the current pool footprint, add accessible zero‑entry access, and include family restroom facilities and play features. Daniel Smith, project manager for GH2 Architects, summarized the change in scale: "So, the original pool was about 7,000 square feet, the surface area. The new pool that we're going back with is about 1,500 square feet." Smith said the new layout is designed for recreation, swim lessons and families, with the deepest area around 5 feet and features such as a vortex slide, a small toddler slide and spray elements.

City Manager Eddie Faulkner and Crossland Construction's construction manager described the project's cost drivers and phasing. Aaron Sups, vice president at Crossland Construction Company, said, "So, with that, we're currently looking at about a $2,000,000 budget with the project." Sups said roughly 60 percent of that estimate is the pool itself, with the balance for bathhouse, accessibility and equipment work.

Architects said the plan reuses the existing bathhouse exterior and equipment building while demolishing and replacing most of the pool shell and deck. The team proposes keeping the existing site grade and deck level while adding ramps and stairs from the bathhouse for ADA access, separating corrosive pool chemicals into dedicated enclosures and providing new mechanical and filtration equipment.

Noting maintenance history and usage, the presentation said the existing pool required frequent repainting and was being used by roughly 30 visitors per day prior to its closure. The project team cited upkeep and the lower daily attendance as factors supporting a smaller, lower‑maintenance pool that can be expanded later. Sups and the architect described the deck and shell work so the site could be expanded in the future without major demolition of new concrete.

Public comment that followed the presentation included Martha Turner, vice chair of the Urban Forestry and Park Board, who said community members are concerned about the reduction in size: "I would like to also make note that we feel like dropping the pool to a quarter of the size that it was is a big concern for us as our community grows." Several council members and staff discussed growth, expansion options and tradeoffs between initial cost and future adaptability.

The presentation was informational only; no vote was taken on April 1. Staff said construction documents are on track to be issued in May and that the city will return with an action item—including a guaranteed maximum price or contract—to council for formal approval before construction begins.