On Jan. 30, the city of Searcy purchased 17 acres of land between South Main Street and Higginson Street to build an indoor pool complex. Since then, the city’s main focus has been determining what that complex will include.
Karen Marshall, owner of Tender Loving Care Early Learning Center, has been heavily involved in the city pool project. Marshall said the main priority is for the pool to be sustainable.
“We need to make sure the pool is structured so it is self-sufficient and won’t cost the city more money,” Marshall said.
In order for the pool to be self-sufficient and generate revenue, Marshall said it needs to support the entire community’s needs. Marshall said it would be ideal to build four separate pools to fit the community’s needs: one for a children’s swim area, one for competitive diving, one for geriatric rehabilitation programs and one for swimming lessons. While building four pools would cost the city more money now, Marshall said it would benefit the city greatly in the long run.
“This is not a short-sighted project,” Marshall said. “We need to be visionary and address the needs of the community.”
According to Lillie Cook, administrative assistant to Mayor David Morris, the initial pool structure will be indoors. There are rumors of adding an outdoor pool and an adjoining sports facility. Marshall said that these are not in the plans, but she does hope they will eventually happen. Marshall said construction is projected to begin in winter 2015.
The exact plans for the pool are still to be determined. The city gave approval for architects to begin drawing plans on Tuesday.
“A lot has changed in the last week since the decision to make the pool indoors,” Cook said.
Assistant professor of education Allen Henderson said that building a community pool in Searcy could potentially attract other businesses to move to the area.
“Most communities our size have something like this already,” Henderson said. “If the city does it right, it could bring a lot of business to the area and we could all benefit.”
