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Parks official Eric Tizlon presents $6.7 million Dankworth Park pool concept; staff says referendum would likely be Nov. 3
Summary
Parks presenter Eric Tizlon told the Burlington City Council a new Dankworth Park pool concept would cost an estimated $6.7 million, could reach voters in a November referendum requiring a 60% approval, and would include accessibility and amenity changes informed by 1,200 survey responses.
Eric Tizlon, a parks staff member, told the Burlington City Council on July 13 that a proposed replacement for the aging Dankworth Park pool has a conservative construction estimate of $6,700,000 based on JEO's design and construction opinion. Tizlon said the concept would keep a main pool roughly the same size as the existing facility (about 10,029—10,100 square feet in the concept), eliminate the separate wading pool in favor of a 0-entry shallow play area on the west side, add roughly 6,000 square feet of lawn seating and improve pool-house layout and restroom code compliance.
Tizlon said the design prioritizes shade, lounge areas and sight lines and that higher-cost extras such as water slides, a lazy river or large aquatic-additions were intentionally excluded to keep the base cost down; he estimated a water slide at $450,000—$600,000 and a splash pad at roughly $600,000—$800,000. He told council the project would likely need to go to referendum similar to a prior fire station ballot and that the council's review would determine whether a November 3 referendum could be put on the ballot. "If it goes to referendum in November and passes, the soonest a pool could open would be the summer of 2028," Tizlon said, while noting construction schedules and bond timing could push that timeline back a year or two.
Tizlon described public outreach to date: a multi-month concept survey that drew about 1,200 responses, and an open-house the previous Thursday with about 75 attendees. He said survey respondents favored shade, basic six-lane (25-meter) lap facilities and lounging space over specialty attractions. Staff also said they planned to pursue grants and private donations to lower the tax levy impact; Tizlon cited a potential CAT grant target of about $500,000 and said $100,000 in additional funding would lower the per-household increase by roughly $2.15 per month on an example $100,000 home.
On operations and staffing, Tizlon and Recreation Manager Brad Selby said the proposed design should not require a substantially larger lifeguard footprint absent slides or other high-staff amenities. Tizlon provided historical operating figures: in 2017 the pool's expenses were about $86,000 with revenues of roughly $63,000; in the last year the pool was open staff estimated a roughly $60,000 shortfall between expenses and revenues. Council members asked staff to provide more detailed recent operating-cost and revenue numbers.
The council did not take a formal vote on the pool proposal at the work session; staff said ballot language and bond documents would be prepared for the July 31 work session and the August 3 regular meeting for council consideration.
