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Mayor Van Kirk announces $14 million natatorium renovation paid from city reserves; Veterans Memorial Park set to open this spring
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Summary
Mayor Van Kirk said Brooklyn will renovate its natatorium in a roughly $14,000,000 project paid from city savings, temporarily closing the pool this summer; he also outlined park openings, a planned purchase of a BP station for traffic improvements, new townhomes and summer events including fireworks on June 27.
Mayor Van Kirk told attendees at a joint city–school presentation that the city has begun a multimillion-dollar overhaul of the natatorium that he described as a roughly $14,000,000 project funded from the city’s savings rather than new borrowing.
"This time next year, you will not even recognize the natatorium," Van Kirk said, describing plans for a two‑story entrance, a new facade, an elevator and expanded workout space. He added, "the city is not taking out any debt, to do that project," and warned that the pool will be closed this summer while work proceeds.
Van Kirk said Veterans Memorial Park — which includes a three‑season pavilion that will be available for rental — is still under construction and expected to open this spring. He also described a newly opened dog park near the service garage at 9400 Memphis Avenue and ongoing street‑improvement work including a paving program targeting Harmony, Ira and Glencoe this year.
To reduce disruption to residents while the natatorium is closed, the mayor said Brooklyn Recreation Center pass holders may use North Olmsted’s pool for a $3 admission. "I wanna thank the city of North Olmsted for partnering with us for that," he said.
Van Kirk outlined a traffic and property plan for the Brookpark/Tiedemann intersection: the city is under contract to buy the BP station at that corner and plans engineering for a westbound turn lane onto Tiedemann Road to ease truck and event traffic. He said the city expects additional traffic related to a large nearby facility and is pursuing targeted engineering and construction to mitigate congestion.
Other items the mayor highlighted included entrance‑sign landscaping projects funded in part by a private property donation, continued winter street‑clearing investments, and community programming. Van Kirk promoted a city celebration, "Brooklyn Celebrates America," on Saturday, June 27, with a 5K/fun run in partnership with the schools and Brooklyn Cares, live music, food and fireworks at dusk.
Next steps: the mayor said the city will complete engineering this year for the Brookpark/Tiedemann turn lane and proceed to construction pending approvals (including ODOT for interchange work) and funding timelines. No formal council vote or financing ordinance was recorded in the presentation; Van Kirk described the natatorium funding as drawn from reserves.
