The City of Dalton will not be moving forward with a project to create a new aquatic center that has been on the drawing board for more than two years. Members of the City Council voted to suspend the project on Thursday at a meeting of the Finance Committee after a recommendation from City Administrator Andrew Parker.
Parker cited projected funding shortfalls in both the projected cost of building the center as well as the operating costs for the center among other factors in his recommendation. Parker noted that inflation in construction costs during the Covid pandemic led to a rise in the projected cost of constructing the aquatic center. The latest projection estimated the project would cost in excess of $23 million, of which the City had allocated approximately $13 million. The City was working to identify other funding sources before the latest projections pushed the cost estimates higher. In addition, a study by aquatics consultant Counsilman-Hunsaker estimated that operating costs for the facility would be approximately $2 million per year with an estimated $1 million in projected revenues.
“We have had stakeholder meetings with the school systems, the swim community, and other stakeholders but we have not received any firm commitment from any external agencies to help guarantee some offsetting revenue to the project,” Parker told the Finance Committee on Thursday. “I think when we went into this we thought that we would have several partner entities within the community to help reduce that burden to the City… especially if the City paid the full freight of the upfront construction costs.”
Parker further noted that the City currently has other significant project needs in other areas. Parker noted that the Parks and Recreation Department is working on plans for a new pickleball facility as well as needed renovations and upgrades to Heritage Point Park and Al Rollins Park. There are also several stormwater management projects that are needed to complete the City’s flood abatement plan. Parker said that funding that had been earmarked for the aquatic center project could be moved to those areas instead. $7 million of the funds allocated to the aquatic center come from a bond issued in 2020 which can only be reallocated to projects involving recreation, economic development, or stormwater projects.
Council members Dennis Mock and Steve Farrow as well as Mayor David Pennington voted in favor of suspending the project. Mayor Pennington typically votes only in the event of a tie, but because Councilmember Tyree Goodlett did not attend the meeting the mayor’s vote was necessary to constitute a quorum.
Mayor Pennington expressed disappointment that the aquatic center was not able to be completed.
“The land that we wanted to put it on originally never materialized, that deal never came through. And then, the situation with Dalton Utilities right now and the lawsuits, we just didn’t feel like it’s right to commit to spending that much money in these current times,” Pennington said after the meeting. “I do think that this should stay on the city’s radar in the future. I think it would be good to build something like this that would attract even more people to come here.”