Work on the Sooner Pool expansion project continues, but the installation of two 45-foot slides at the pool will not be completed in time for the current summer season, Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said this week.
“We’ve had so much rain lately that contract crews working on this project are simply not going to be able to finish the slide installation in time for use this season,” Siemers said, noting it will likely be the end of August or early September before the installation is complete.
On the up side, a third slide that had initially been nixed from the project is back in, thanks to an allocation by the Bartlesville City Council during adoption of the 2022-23 Fiscal Year budget earlier this week.
Known as “the water slide alternate,” the third slide was included in the project bid process as an alternate, which means it was not included in the overall bid but as a special component should additional funding become available. That funding, $300,000, became available through the American Rescue Plan Act — an allocation the council approved as part of the overall FY 2022-23 budget on June 6.
“Due to price increases since the bid was approved, the third slide component of the project will cost more than the original quote,” Siemers said. “While we have not received the final change order request from the contractor, we have been informed that just the materials for the slide have increased $47,000 above their original price. However, based on this, we are still confident the work will be within the allocation approved by the council this month.
The slide will bring the total cost of the project, which also includes a resurfacing of the pool and parking lot repairs, from $3.2 million to approximately $3.5 million. With the exception of the third slide, the pool project is funded through the Half-cent Capital Improvement Project Sales Tax. The parking lot repairs are funded through General Obligation Bond funds, also approved by Bartlesville voters.