An admission and season pass pricing structure for Lawton’s new aquatic center in Elmer Thomas Park was approved by the City Council, which also awarded a contract for paving the facility’s parking lot.
At the recommendation of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, daily admission fees for 60 days – Independence Day July 4 through Labor Day September 2 – will be $6 for adults and $5 for youths aged 3 to 17 and for seniors 55 and older.
Season passes for that twomonth period will be $155 for families, $120 for adults ages 18 to 54, and $90 for senior citizens and for teens aged 15 to 17.
The pricing schedule “reflects regional benchmarks, projected operating costs, and community accessibility goals,” Parks Director Larry Parks said.
City staff conducted a regional analysis of “peer cities” in Oklahoma, consulted with recreation professionals, and “gathered feedback from local residents through surveys and community meetings,” Parks said.
The inaugural season fee schedule is intended to “ensure affordability while maintaining the financial viability of the facility,” he said.
Miller-Tippens Construction of Oklahoma City is the contractor on the $19.2 million aquatic center. The 42,200 square-foot facility will feature a wide range of amenities, including a recreational pool, diving boards, slides, swim lanes and a lazy river. The City Council wants construction to be finished and the center to be open for the July 4 weekend.
Construction of the aquatic center will be financed with sales taxes from the city’s Capital Improvements Program.
The parking lot paving project was awarded in a separate contract to Ellsworth Construction d/b/a A-Tech Paving of Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Ellsworth submitted the lowest responsive bid among the three applicants for the paving job, and its $501,764 bid was 22% lower than the “original anticipated cost” for the project, consulting engineer R. Scott Vaughn informed the council.
“There are 32 existing spaces and we’ll be adding 90 more, for a total of 122,” said Caitlin Gatlin, the city’s communications manager. “We’re adding approximately 71,500 square feet of new asphalt parking” for the aquatic center, she said.
Construction on the parking lot is expected to be finished by June 15, the contract provides.