Kirkland officials back faster steps to boost swim lessons, direct design work on Peter Kirk Pool
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Summary
After months of debate over an enclosed aquatics center, Kirkland officials authorized design work to expand swim lessons at Peter Kirk Pool, approving an activity-pool renovation and an extended season pilot while directing staff to return with enclosure cost options and funding scenarios.
Park Board members and city officials on Feb. 17 agreed on a staged approach to increase swim-lesson capacity at Peter Kirk Pool, prioritizing near-term changes that can be implemented without a voter measure.
The Park Board told council it sees the lack of year-round lessons as an equity and public-safety issue and urged action primarily to increase capacity. "We think that's an equity issue, we think that's a public safety issue, and the current need is not being met by our current capacity in any way," Park Board member Denise Lindbergh said.
City staff recommended three near-term moves: extend the lesson season into May and September to add roughly 1,000 lesson slots (staff projected a net annual operating cost of about $28,000), renovate the small wading pool into a larger activity pool that can host additional classes, and proceed with design-phase work for those improvements while keeping the option to add an enclosure later.
Deputy Director John Lloyd told the council the expanded shoulder-season proposal would add about a 42% boost in swim-lesson capacity during those months and that the activity-pool conversion would add another roughly 22% capacity in summer months. "We could add capacity for a little over 1,000 people," Lloyd said of the May/September sessions, noting staff assumed an 80% fill rate when projecting registrants.
Councilors generally supported the incremental plan while asking staff to include enclosure cost estimates in the design phase so the city can evaluate staged implementation. "I would like us to still consider whether the best short- and long-term approach to increasing swim lesson capacity is renovating the activity pool or to first do a phased approach and cover the larger pool," Council Member Falcone said. Several members asked staff to scope HVAC, electrical and mechanical work so that future enclosure installation would not require redoing recently completed systems.
On funding, staff outlined a mix of sources already in the pool CIP plus new options identified since last summer: county pass-through funds, neighborhood parkland impact fees, and a potential reallocation of debt capacity tied to a different project; combined available funding in staff's review rose to roughly $19 million under current assumptions. Staff cautioned that tapping impact-fee reserves reduces flexibility for future land-acquisition projects.
Council asked staff to begin design work this year, including costed enclosure options to be presented during budget deliberations. The council emphasized operational questions — staffing lifeguards in a year-round model and the higher annual operating cost of a covered facility — as matters that will need fuller analysis in the next phase.
Next steps: staff will initiate design contracts, return with 30%-60% design milestones and enclosure cost scenarios, and present funding options as part of the upcoming budget work so council can weigh capital and operating trade-offs.
