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Dorville council favors Honeysuckle Park as preferred site for new pool after three-site study
Summary
City consultants presented a feasibility study showing an outdoor aquatic center (zero-depth entry, splash pad, 25-yard lap pool) fits Dorville’s needs; council members largely favored Honeysuckle Park but asked staff to return with detailed parking, traffic and cost analyses before final direction.
Dorville’s City Council heard a detailed feasibility and site-selection presentation on Aug. 13 and signaled a preference for placing a new public pool at Honeysuckle Park, while asking staff for deeper study of parking, traffic and costs.
LoDesign vice president Aaron St. Pierre, who led the study, told the council the preferred facility would include a zero-depth entry play area, a splash pad, a 25-yard lap pool and indoor party/rental space. “The size of a facility like this…the acreage that's needed to support is somewhere between 5 and 10 acres,” St. Pierre said, underscoring that lot size and utilities drive site choice.
The consultant tested three candidate sites: Honeysuckle Park (city-owned, close to utilities but would use valuable recreational acreage), Chapi Park (city-owned but small and tucked away with residential access concerns), and the New Peach Tree Road property (right-sized and visible but not city-owned and potentially requiring brownfield remediation and acquisition costs).
Council members raised operational concerns that will shape a final decision. Council Member Evans pressed staff to evaluate repair history of the old pool and the tradeoffs of replacing it in place versus moving downtown; members from Henshaw, Simmons and Ray urged staff to study parking solutions including the financial feasibility of a parking deck if surface parking would sacrifice critical green space. Council Member Armistad asked whether playfields lost at Honeysuckle could be relocated to Chapi or other sites.
Several council members noted accessibility advantages at New Peach Tree Road, particularly transit access, but said land cost and remediation risk made Honeysuckle the leading candidate. After discussion, council asked staff and the consultant to return with a Honeysuckle master-plan package that includes redesign concepts, a traffic and parking study, estimated costs (including potential parking-deck scenarios), and potential field relocations.
Next steps: staff will refine the Honeysuckle master plan and present a follow-up to council with parking/traffic analyses and cost estimates prior to any land-use decision or budget request.
