Marion officials ‘press pause’ on aquatics center proposal

MARION — Rather than risk a sink-or-swim vote this fall, Marion city officials are opting to “press pause” on plans for a nearly $40 million aquatics center.

Marion City Council members met twice this week to discuss the project, which would have seen a new aquatics center built between 31st and 34th streets south of Munier Road to replace the existing municipal pool at Willowood Park.

The current city pool — built in 1987 — is now facing costly repairs on a near-annual basis, and the aquatics center development was floated as a means of addressing that issue.

However, city leaders on Thursday voted to hold off on the project in light of the overall project cost and recent survey findings showing insufficient public support for the bond referendum needed to fund the project.

“I think it would be prudent to take more time,” Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly said at this week’s work session. “This is a complex project, and I know we’ve spent a lot of time on it ... but I do have concerns about us being so close to the vote date and being where we are right now” in these discussions.

As initially proposed, the project called for a recreational pool for younger children and their guardians, lazy river, dive pool, lap pool and related parking and street infrastructure. Officials also considered a wave pool, although that was ultimately removed in the name of cost savings.

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Final cost estimates came in at around $37.42 million to be funded by the voter-approved bond referendum. Earlier estimates were closer to $42 million but were reduced through a narrowing of scope and ongoing value engineering.

The city last month sent surveys to every Marion household seeking feedback on the project that ultimately found 54 percent approval for the base project — below the 60 percent needed to pass a bond referendum under Iowa code.

Those results — and the tight timeline between now and the upcoming Nov. 4 election — swayed the majority of the seven-person city council to “press pause” on plans to put a bond question on this year’s ballot.

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“We want to see a project like this happen. This community needs a municipal recreational water project, but ... I want to make sure what we’re putting on the ballot is the best proposal we can possibly have,” said Ward 4 city council member Sara Mentzer.

Members voted 6-1 to not move forward with a referendum this fall. Steve Jensen was the sole vote in favor of placing the issue on the Nov. 4 ballot. Jensen, who serves on the council in an at-large capacity, said he’d rather voters make the final decision on whether to advance the project.

It’s possible voters could do so in the future, however, should city officials choose to refine the project and put it forward at a later date.

Several council members and city staff stressed ahead of the vote that a pause is not a full stop and that work will continue to identify how best to address the need to replace the city’s existing pool facilities.

The earliest a bond referendum on the matter could be placed on the ballot is November of 2026.

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