Boulder City voters to decide whether new aquatic center is worth higher tax bill

Built in 1979, the current facility does not meet modern health codes, is out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and is constantly in need of expensive repairs, city officials say.

Boulder City residents will soon vote on a hotly debated topic in town: Should the city borrow up to $40 million to replace its critically outdated swimming facility?

The Clark County Debt Commission earlier this month approved Boulder City’s request for two ballot questions in June regarding the city’s 40-year-old aquatic center.

The first will ask Boulder City voters whether they approve of the city spending $5 million from its capital improvement fund “to design and construct a new aquatic center.” The second will ask if they support the city issuing “up to $40 million in bonds” to design and build the new facility.

If the second question passes, the city would finance the new aquatic facility through general obligation bonds, which would be paid off by a property tax levy. If only the first question passes, the city would need to come up with an alternative way to pay for a new facility.

Built in 1979, the current facility does not meet modern health codes, is out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and is constantly in need of expensive repairs, city officials say. Open year-round, the facility suffers from failing pipes, problems in the mechanical room and general aging infrastructure, said Roger Hall, director of Parks and Recreation for Boulder City.

“A lot of things are going wrong with the pool being 40 years old,” explained Hall, who also served as the first pool manager in the 1980s.

Officials in Boulder City, a town of 15,000 residents 26 miles southeast of Las Vegas, have been discussing the possibility of replacing the pool for the past two years, said Lisa Laplante, the Boulder City communications manager. Based on community feedback, the city has selected a tentative plan for the new facility, which would include a main lap pool, a four-lane programming pool, a fitness center, a racquetball court, a group exercise room and a meeting room.

The main pool would be about the same surface area of the current pool, but deeper for competitive swimming. Broadbent Park, where the facility is located, would retain the same amount of green space once the new facility opened.

Estimated construction costs would be $27 million. If the bond measure is approved, residents would see their property taxes increase by between 2.7 percent and 3.6 percent per year over the next 30 years, officials estimate. But that timeline, as well as the costs, could change.

“It depends on if we get the pool paid off early,” Laplante said.

Last fall, a survey that was sent to a representative sample of 375 residents indicated considerable community