Bettendorf City Administrator Decker Ploehn points out features on a rendering for a new swimming pool on Wednesday, Aug. 24, during a public open house on the project at the Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Bettendorf’s plans for a new swimming pool complex, an ice rink and a transformed Life Fitness Center went out for public view and comment during an informational meeting Wednesday, Aug. 24. As residents gathered over two hours to see plans for $20 million in improvements to the city’s recreational facilities, they offered a range of […]
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Bettendorf’s plans for a new swimming pool complex, an ice rink and a transformed Life Fitness Center went out for public view and comment during an informational meeting Wednesday, Aug. 24.As residents gathered over two hours to see plans for $20 million in improvements to the city’s recreational facilities, they offered a range of questions and comments including:
Will this mean my taxes will go up?
Can YMCA members use the new facilities?
Why does the city need a bigger swimming pool?
This will be great for younger people, but what about senior programs?
For two hours Wednesday from late afternoon into early evening, visitors posed those questions and more as well as words of praise and some criticism for plans to improve the recreation amenities at Middle Road and 23rd Street and develop a new attraction expected to be called “The Landing.” Those plans include a new community water park, ice rink and a YMCA-owned recreational center that will replace the now city-owned Splash Landing, Frozen Landing and its Life Fitness Center.Dozens of people filed into the Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center, Bettendorf, for a community informational open house about the project. (A second open house is set for 5-7 p.m., Monday, Aug. 29, at the convention center.)The open house featured a series of displays and screens that showed plans and artist renderings of The Landing. Several city officials were on hand fielding questions and comments.Bettendorf City Administrator Decker Ploehn was kept busy for much of the event answering those questions and explaining features about the proposed upgrades.“People are excited about this. We’re getting a variety of opinions. That’s the whole point (of the open house),” he said.For instance, Larry Decker of Bettendorf said he is concerned about the future of senior activities and programs at the Life Fitness Center if the facility is taken over by the YMCA of Iowa Mississippi Valley, as proposed under the plan. “The water park looks fine, but I don’t have any kids. So, I don’t know if it’s for me,” he added.Ginny Treasure, a Bettendorf resident for 70 years, said she is excited by the plans. “I think it looks great. It will be great for younger people. … And that Splash Landing needs to be replaced,” she added.In addition to getting public comments at the open houses, the city is gathering hundreds of comments online. (Residents are being asked to submit questions and comments to bettendorf.org/TheLanding.)As of about noon Wednesday, the city had received more than 1,500 comments and questions, according to Angie Sharp, the city’s new community engagement manager, who was at Wednesday’s open house. So far, the online comments cover a wide variety of positions and views. Some people have even offered their own plans for improving the city swimming pool and ice rink, Ms. Sharp added.Online comments will continue to be taken until 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 31. After that, a report on all the public comments will be presented to the Bettendorf City Council during a September meeting on the proposed project.The multi-million dollar, three-part proposed project – that is a partnership between Bettendorf and the YMCA of the Iowa Mississippi Valley – still needs to get approval from the city council and the YMCA Corporate Board. If the projects are approved, the new recreation center could open in January, and the new water park and ice rink could be open in 2024.Earlier this month, council members were told the project would be a benefit to the community by bringing new state-of-the-art facilities and could serve more people. It also would ultimately save the community up to $500,000 a year because of the new and efficient designs, and because the new recreation center would be owned by the YMCA, the YMCA would operate the water park, and the project would come with no tax increases in Bettendorf. If those plans move forward, here is a proposed timeline for the project:
Fall: City council vote on the project and site development plan process.
Winter 2022-23: Bid process.
January 2023: Recreational center opens
Spring 2023: Construction begins.
Spring 2024: New water park opens.
Here is a closer look at the proposed plans:
Water Park: It would provide more than 20,000 square feet of water recreation. Features would include: Activity pool with rock climbing wall, basketball, floatables, lap lanes and more; three-story slide tower with two-story tall FlyTyme Slide, raft/tube slide, open body slide, and speed slide; Splash deck with interactive play structure; 430-foot-long Lazy River. It will serve up to 1,500 people a day, compared to 700 people at Splash Landing. Estimates call for 100,000 visitors a year. There would be a daily admission for non-Y members. Plans call for the park to be owned by the city and operated by the YMCA. Estimated cost is $18.7 million
Ice rink. This will provide outdoor winter recreational activities. More than 14,500 people visited Frozen Landing in the 2021-22 season. The proposed rink would be 70-by-176 feet. The current ice rink is 60-by-120 feet. Estimates call for 15,000 visitors a year. The rink would be owned and operated by the city. Estimated cost is $3 million.
The Life Fitness Center would be sold to the YMCA to be turned into a youth programming focused fitness center with gymnastics and a child care center. The center is expected to host an Early Learning Center for 100 additional children; a gymnastics/ninja center; indoor recreational soccer and basketball programs; youth personal training center. With YMCA ownership, taxpayers could save about $250,000 a year in operational costs. The new center would continue to serve as a city emergency center, be open for city-run recreational programs in inclement weather, have an 18-month guarantee for indoor tennis players, and the YMCA joiner fee would be waived for all current fitness center members.
