No Indoor Pool at Eureka Recreation Center Has Some Not Splashing for Joy

Some Eureka residents tell Patch they wonder why an indoor pool was not incorporated into the plans for the city's new Recreational Center being built. They stated an indoor pool would be beneficial for water-based therapy, fitness and those with physical challenges. Missy Bundren, director of Eureka's Parks and Recreation Department, said it was a matter of costs.

"When we first started planning the Recreational Center, there was a set budget. We had to be picky and choosy about what we could do with that budget," said Bundren.

She said the maintenance costs of operating an indoor pool year-round also was a factor, given the extra utilities' costs, heating, humidity control, chemicals' costs and staffing necessary to operate one.

Eureka resident Carleen Murray also voiced concerns and questions about the lack of an indoor pool within the Recreational Center at the Eureka Town Hall hosted Thursday evening at the Eureka Community Center. She compared it to the RiverChase recreational facility in Fenton, which does have an indoor pool. "If members or users are financing the cost, it doesn't make sense to not have an indoor pool that families can use year-round," she said.

Bundren said RiverChase was a much older facility, and that Eureka teams compared the new rec center moreso to the Sunset Hills recreational facility, which she said was five years old and with an outdoor pool only, too. She said a study done for Eureka by a third-party source identified more needs for other rec center components, compared to an indoor pool. But she said land was left and set aside at the site to expand and create an indoor pool in the future, if finances allow for it. 

"What would need to happen for the city to add the indoor pool? A certain amount of membership?" posed Murray.

Bundren answered that revenue would be the biggest driver.

The Eureka Recreation Center will be called “The Timbers" to go with its rustic setting and cedar outside components. It is slated to open mid-July, Mayor Kevin Coffey told town hall attendees.

The nearly 30,000-square-foot facility will contain the following amenities:

• Fitness center with cardio and strength equipment
• Group exercise room 
• Locker rooms with saunas
• Full-size gymnasium
• Two meeting rooms that can be combined into one larger room
• Tot care room
• Outdoor pool with diving board, lap swimming lanes, leisure pool with beachfront entry, waterfall, current channel and slide
• Concession stand
• Wet party room