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Report regarding the Conceptual Design of the Orange Memorial Park Aquatic Center (Project No. pk2310). (Philip Vitale, Deputy Director of Capital Projects)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council receive a report regarding the Conceptual Design of the Orange Memorial Park Aquatic Center Project (Project No. pk2310).
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Orange Pool is South San Francisco’s only indoor municipal swimming pool. Opened in 1970, it continues to serve as a community-wide destination for residents of all ages. Despite the City’s attentive custodianship of the building, overall, the building’s age and heavy use have resulted in very worn condition of the shell and interior. The facility is well beyond the point of meriting replacement.
In April 2021, staff presented to the City Council Budget Standing Committee the Wong and Logan Feasibility Study with recommendation of the construction of a new two-pool facility. In May 2021, staff engaged Group4 Architects from the City’s on-call architecture firm list to explore alternative Aquatic Center locations within Orange Memorial Park and validate construction costs.
Working from the two-pool facility approach identified in the Wong and Logan study, Group4 refined the program to include an 8-lane 25-meter pool, separate teaching pool, swimmer’s lounge, rentable multi-use/party room, staff and pool director offices, locker rooms and support spaces for mechanical equipment within a 28,500 square-foot single-story facility.
In February 2022, City Council authorized the execution of a professional services agreement with ELS Architecture and Urban Design for design, construction documentation and construction administration for the project. In April 2022, City Council authorized the execution of a consulting services agreement with Swinerton Management and Consulting for project and construction management services for the project. Community engagement for the Aquatic Center commenced in April 2022, with three workshops and online surveys. Conceptual Design of the project has been ongoing since then, with completion of the Conceptual Design documents in September 2022.
Budget and Schedule:
The project is tracking to the following budget:
• Soft Costs (design, permits, and fees) $ 9,000,000
• Hard Costs (construction) $40,000,000
• Total Budget $49,000,000
The project is tracking to the following schedule:
• Programming and Planning Summer 2021 - Fall 2022
• Design Documents Complete Early 2023
• Construction Start Summer 2023
• Opening Winter 2025
While the current schedule reflects construction starting approximately 5 months later than anticipated, mostly due to extra time spent on community engagement and design, the project team believes construction will take less than an initially projected, resulting in approximately three-month overall delay compared to the schedule shared in Fall 2021.
Community Engagement
City staff and the project design team, led by ELS, conducted a robust community engagement program from April through September 2022. Outreach to the community about workshops, focus groups, and project surveys were conducted through the Mayor’s weekly updates, citywide newsletters, and email newsletters from the Parks and Recreation Department, and to an e-mail list created for the project. A project website was also created and updated regularly: www.ssf.net/newpool <http://www.ssf.net/newpool>.
Surveys: Three surveys were conducted by the design team, asking the community for opinions and preferences for a wide variety of Aquatic Center features. Over 200 responses were received from the community, informing the design team about:
• Pool speed, temperature, and size
• Locker rooms and pool deck
• Swim lessons, and competition/sports
• Senior and wellness programs
• ADA/special needs programs
• Connection to Orange Memorial Park
• Sustainability (LEED/Cal Green)
• Pool operations
Focus Groups: City staff and the design team held focus group meetings with a variety of community groups, including the South San Francisco Aquatics Club, seniors, the Youth Commission, and a special focus group regarding a possible therapy pool. A separate veterans stakeholder group has been established to study the thoughtful and respectful relocation of the veteran’s memorial.
Community Workshops: Three public Community Workshops were held and were well attended by a diversity of community members. These workshops included smaller breakout groups led by a member of the design team, and a general discussion of design concepts. These workshops were held on:
• Workshop #1 - Saturday, April 9
• Workshop #2 - Saturday, April 30
• Workshop #3 - Saturday, June 25
Community Events: An update on the Aquatic Center progress, including displays on community engagement and design progress were included in community events including an Old Town event on May 21, Movie Night on July 15, and Swim Team Picnic on August 21.
Project Reviews and Presentations: City Staff and the design team conducted review sessions with individual Parks and Recreation Commissioners and City Council Members to provide updates on the project. A project update was given to the Parks and Recreation Commission on August 16.
Conceptual Design Process
The existing Orange Pool has six swimming lanes in a traditional indoor pool. The community engagement process identified significant issues with the existing facility, which were closely examined by the design team during Conceptual Design:
• Water temperature (too high, too low)
• Program demand
• Too small for competitions
• Crowded locker rooms
• COVID closure shut down all swimming
• Does not attract/serve outdoor swimmers
Schemes with indoor pools, outdoor pools, and both types of pools were explored. As the cost per lane for an indoor pool is $1.6 million, and $300,000 per lane for an outdoor pool, the design team found that the pool size could be maximized for the project budget by including both an indoor and outdoor pool. Further, the outdoor pool, while having a significant footprint, is estimated to be only 5% of the total project budget, due to the much lower per square foot construction costs associated with the unconditioned outdoor setting. For the same cost, if all indoors, the project team estimates only one to two additional indoor lanes could be added in lieu of the 10-lane outdoor option within the available budget.
This concept also addressed the significant community concerns regarding pool temperature, by providing generously sized pools with two different temperatures. The indoor pool will be heated to 80-84 degrees and the outdoor pool heated to 78-80 degrees. Temperatures can be adjusted in the future to meet participant needs.
Maximizing the total amount of pool size will also allow the City to double the amount of people who can be served by the new facility, including twice the number of participants in the learn-to-swim program. The current learn-to-swim program has a waiting list of over 600 individuals. Locker room facilities planned are well over twice the size of those in the existing Orange Pool and much more efficiently designed in order to better serve users.
Community members and Parks and Recreation Commissioners raised concerns about an outdoor pool in the South San Francisco climate. The design team engaged a wind consultant, CPP, with significant experience in South San Francisco, to examine the project and historic wind conditions. CPP’s work also include sophisticated wind tunnel testing of a model of the new facility. The study found that the design of the new facility, which includes a glass and wood windscreen, greatly mitigates wind conditions, and will create a comfortable environment for use of the outdoor pool while also addressing security concerns shared by City Council.
The Conceptual Design of the new Aquatic Center includes the following program:
• Indoor pool with 6 (25-yard) lap lanes and beach entry
• Outdoor pool with 10 (25-yard x 25-meter) lap lanes
• Two sets of locker rooms for each pool
• Three individual family locker rooms
• Activity room (26’ x 32’)
• Pool equipment storage
• Mechanical equipment rooms
• Lobby and circulation space
• Drop-off and ADA parking
• Landscaping integrated with Orange Memorial Park
• Relocation of the veteran’s memorial
While a multi-purpose room and an all-electric mechanical system are not within the current project budget, they will be designed and included as add alternates when the project goes out to bid.
Environmental Review
As the entity responsible for carrying out the proposed project, the City is also responsible for examining the environmental effects of the proposed project and determining the environmental analysis required for the project to evaluate any impacts. In reviewing the current circumstances and proposed work, City staff anticipates that the proposed project would be categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15302, as a Class 2 “Replacement or Reconstruction” project.
The exemption under Section 15302 applies to the replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced. In this case, the project is proposing to replace the existing Orange Pool with an indoor and outdoor pool, both of which will continue to serve as community swim facilities at the park. The new pools will also have associated parking lot, locker rooms, activity room and administrative facilities substantially similar to the facilities associated with the existing pool, where the new pools and facilities will be located on the same park site as the existing pool and its facilities. While the new pools do increase capacity by providing additional swim lanes and activity room to accommodate more community users, this increase is intended to address overcrowding and unmet demands issues for the existing pool facilities. With the construction of the new pools, a portion of the existing soccer field at the park site will also be demolished and thereby balancing the number of overall facilities users at the park location. Additionally, since the proposed location for the new pools are currently already being used as sports facilities (pool and soccer field), the proposed construction is not anticipated to produce additional or different impacts from those of the existing facilities.
As the proposed project moves forward with final design, City staff will continue to evaluate issues such as noise, traffic, lighting and reflective sources, and other environmental factors to determine whether the project would result in significant environmental impacts. Such evaluation would allow the City to confirm whether the proposed project would be categorically exempt under CEQA, or whether additional environmental analysis would be required.
If the approach and amenities presented in this report meet with City Council approval, the design team will move into the schematic design phase. Cost estimates will be refined, and the team will endeavor to maximize pool features wherever possible. Staff will keep City Council apprised as design refinements are made.
FISCAL IMPACT
This project is included in the City of South San Francisco’s Fiscal Year 2022-23 Capital Improvement Program with $49 million from bond sales (fund 524).
RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC PLAN
Approval of this action will contribute to the City’s Strategic Plan. It aligns with Priority #2, which is focused on enhancing quality of life by building and maintaining a sustainable city, making the city a great place to live, learn and play.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the City Council review the Conceptual Design of the Orange Memorial Park Aquatic Center Project (Project No. pk2310), and authorize staff to move forward with schematic design.