The Como Pool design task force voted to approve for final report preparation the refined schematic design that was presented Monday, April 20.
Overall site relationships
Project manager, Don Ganje, first discussed the overall site, the proposed street realignments, access, parking, trails, facility location with relation to Como Woodland, etc. Click on the thumbnail photos to see them larger. A high quality (HQ) version of the video is available by double clicking on the video to go to the You Tube site, then click the “HQ” and full screen icons (lower right corner).
Pool elements
The individual pool layouts, splash/wading pool, multi-use pool, lazy river+, were next shown by USAquatics / AKA consultants.
Buildings designs
Architectural renderings of the buildings and detailed floor plans were presented by USAquatics / AKA consultants.
Costs (broken down by elements) and bather loads, attendance, and income projections
Click on photos to see projected costs. The consultants also projected expenditures broken down for each component. The last photos show staff recommended bather loads and projected revenues. The video is of the consultants walk though of the projected costs broken down for each area.
Questions and comments
Please use the comments area to ask questions or to voice your opinions. I will pass them on to the design team.
5 replies on “Final Como pool design approved by task force”
Just finished scanning the 72 page print out of the Como Regional Park Pool Replacement Study Park which is in the District 10 (Como Street Car Building) office. It was interesting to read that Goal One of this design process was to preserve the historical character of this 19th C park.
On page 10 it was noted that the combined area of the existing Como Lap Pool and diving area was 5000 sft. The proposed aquatic facility is 5,662 sft for the combined lap pool/ diving area (w. climbing wall and cliff platform). The lap pool in the proposed design has an area of 3,700 sft.
The existing splash/wading pool area was 2,250 sft. The proposed aquatic facility has 8,403 sft for a splash/ wading pool.(4,750 sft for the splash/wading pool and 3,653 sft for the electrically propelled “lazy” river.)
The past fees were $4.00 adult swim, $3.00 children, $27.50 Children Pass (10 visits) and $37.50 Adult Pass (10 visits).
The expected fees for the replaced facility are $6.50 adult swim,$ 4.50 child swim, $45.00 Child Pass, $58.50 Adult Pass.
The “lazy”river ( which is about 1/2 the size of the splash/wading and lap/diving pools combined} requires more than 2/3 thirds of the cost for electricity required by the combined splash/wading and lap/diving pools (pg 10,12, and 52). Electricity is the largest contributing utility cost to the aquatic part of the facility.
The picture of the features of the proposed aquatic facility on page 63 and 65 show various prefabricated or constructed rock and boulder types of features unlike current landscape of Como Park.
It will be interesting to hear what park visitors views are about this design and how it fits together with the rest of the design for Como Park.
1. Does it look like a feature of a 19th C. park?
2. Is it a pool design that replaces the pools that– before 1962 did not exist in Como Park ?
3. Is the 150 page report (72 pgs plus appendices, a study that “reflects the needs and desires of
each group (on) the task force….while considering the needs of the citizens of the greater Saint
Paul region”? (words in quotes are from the task force mission statement).
4. Will Regional Park visitors to Como Park (an estimated 46 % of the 2.4 million that annually visit
Como) take time after visiting Como’s other features, to swim in a pool before driving home?
Take a look at this very informative task force study. Look before you Leap into an aquatic facility in a 19th C park!
The 72 page “Como Regional Pool Study Final Report” referred to is available for download. It is a large download, 17.4 MB PDF. Click on the link if you want to see the whole thing. I will try to reproduce parts of it on this web site soon.
I’m excited about the plan for the new water park. I think it will draw a lot of people to the area. However, my biggest concern as a Como Park resident is traffic and parking. Parking was a huge problem last weekend with the Hmong freedom festival and brought into sharp relief the city’s failure to regulate parking in the park. Anyone who saw the parking lot near the Pavillion over the weekend would understand the parking problem. As a parent of a small child, I am also very concerned about traffic – based on the current lack of respect for the speed limits on the residential streets around the park, I can imagine our neighborhoods becoming unsafe for our children in the summer when high school students are out of school and driving/speeding to the water park. Hopefully, the increased traffic in the area when the water park opens will merit increased enforcement of the traffic and parking regulations.
I do not feel we need a lazy river as part of our pool design. The lazy river will take up more green space and be more expensive to run due to water and electicity needed. We just need a pool for Swimming, playing in diving, not floating around on an inner tube.
The adjacent Como Woodlands Outdoor Classroom is a unique site for St. Paul students to learn about the environment IN the environment not just in a classroom. The more elaborate the pool replacement is, the greater the detrimental impact on one of the last natural areas left in the city. There are lots of pools and waterparks and just one Como Woodlands. I’d like to see a simple pool that will allow kids to cool off and swim, while allowing as little disruption to the environment as possible. Please keep it simple and safe for all the living things in Como Park.