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Steering committee favors family amenities as Marion refines aquatic center concept
Summary
City staff reported the aquatic center steering committee prioritized family‑oriented features—lazy river, slides, zero‑depth play—over competitive swimming infrastructure; staff will test site constraints at Willowwood and return refined concepts to council.
Seth (city staff) told council the aquatic center steering committee used a prioritization exercise to rank amenities from the feasibility study. "Lazy River was ranked really high," he said; slides, zero‑depth entries and toddler features also scored highly while competition lap lanes and specialty attractions like wave pools ranked lower.
Seth said staff will evaluate the Willowwood site for constraints such as topography and stormwater outfall, examine phase opportunities and refine a concept plan to bring back to council. There was no action requested at the work session; staff said monthly updates will continue.
Council asked whether the southern reach of the Willowwood property would be factored into concept work. Seth said site constraints (downhill slope, stormwater discharge) make that area a focus of upcoming analysis. He noted the steering committee has 12 members and that staff expects to return with a refined concept and phasing evaluation in the next month.
