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Highland pool: Series of events
1998 - In a combined effort, the Highland County Board of Supervisors, Highland school board, and Town of Monterey pursue the idea of a recreation complex next to high school, and Blackwell Engineering is hired to design plans.
1999 - Blackwell completes plans for Highland Park. They include a pool, biking and sidewalk trails, sidewalks, basketball and tennis courts, soccer field, two baseball fields, and picnic areas.
2001 - Highland secures $243,000 for Highland/Monterey sidewalk project. The project includes extending town sidewalks down main street to Myers-Moon Road, to the high school, through the proposed park near school grounds to U.S. 220, ending at the main intersection in town.
2003 - The Monterey Lions Club closes its swimming pool west of town in September after nearly 50 years' as the only county public pool.
2004 - Engineering Concepts Inc. recommends locating a new pool centrally in Highland Park.
March 2005 - Resources for the sidewalk project reach $800,000.
May 2005 - Highland County applies for a $110,000 grant from the Virginia Outdoors Fund for a junior- Olympic size outdoor pool with changing rooms, bathrooms, and parking. The grant, administered by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, is for developing public outdoor recreation areas and facilities, and may not total more than half of the project cost. On the application the county states it will appropriate $145,000, and donate another $40,000 via in-kind resources, for a total projected cost of $295,000. Dates for proposed construction are scheduled: •August 2005 - Authorize final design contract. •November 2005 - Complete final design. •January 2006 - Receive authorization from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Highland County Office of Building and Zoning. Perform site activities, excavate, and complete site preparation. •April 2006 - Bid pool for construction. •May 2006 - Receive bids and award contract. •June 2006 - Begin construction. •October 2006 - Complete construction.
August 2005 - The Virginia Outdoors Fund awards a $110,000 matching grant to Highland County for the project; deadline for accessing the grant expires December 2008.
Late 2005 - Project is put on hold. Highland decides to attempt to build the pool without taxpayer dollars. An aggressive fund-raising campaign by the Highland Recreation Commission begins.
2006 - Fund-raising continues by the recreation commission. The commission also assumes responsibility for the project. Debate arises about whether the pool should be enclosed. Plans are expanded to include a wellness center and enclosing the pool, done in three phases. The idea is incorporated into the fund-raising campaign and preliminary designs are discussed, but not finalized.
September 2006 - Pool fund receives $100,000 toward maintenance ($25,000 for four years). Donation requires using the money by Aug. 31, 2008.
April 2007 - Fund-raising meets matching grant with just over $110,000 from donations and pledges.
May 2007 - The recreation commission meets with supervisors and asks for authority to order a soil test on the site and hire an architect and engineering firm to finalize design. Unresolved debate on the design and support building, and the need for an access road, leaves plans tentative. Nonetheless, supervisors agree with the commission that building needs to begin, and grants the request for a soil test and hiring an engineering firm.
Now and ongoing - The site has been designated; a soil test has been ordered; an engineering firm has been contacted; and fund-raising continues to add to the fund total, now above $230,000. The current design includes a zero-entry access area that enters into a junior-Olympic pool approximately 40 by 75 feet long with depths of 3-5 feet and a separate baby pool. No design of the support building or the three-phase wellness center have been agreed upon. The projected cost of the pool itself is now $300,000.
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