City evaluates progress on Aquatic Center

Mayfield Heights Mayor Anthony DiCicco as well as City Council and department heads recently took a tour of the Aquatic and Community Center project.

The new center at 6306 Marsol Road will be approximately 33,500 square feet and will include new equipment, technology and water facilities.

“The beam signing took place earlier in the month, but the weather prohibited a tour at that time,” Recreation Director Sean Ward said. “The tour gave those in attendance the ability to better visualize what the final product will look like.

“Many commented that the facility feels larger than they imagined.”

Ward said that council members were excited to see the progress made with the building as they move forward into the next phase of construction.

AM Higley and Co., the contractors responsible for the center’s construction, anticipate the cost of construction at approximately $34 million with contingency funds allocated if any issues arise.

The main building includes a 9,200-square-foot gymnasium that can be divided into two basketball or volleyball courts or six pickleball courts, a 3,550-square-foot event center with an attached kitchen that can be divided into three separate rooms, and a 1,075-square-foot senior fitness room in addition to the new Recreation Department offices.

“The Aquatics portion of the project includes an activity pool with water features, a current channel, water vortex and ample shallow water to conduct swim lessons,” Ward said. “The deep-water pool includes four lap lanes and a dive well for a low and high dive. The facility has both a family slide, where little ones can go down with a sibling or parent, and a large slide structure that includes a four-lane racing slide, a spiral slide, and

“Our team is working diligently to get this facility built as quickly as possible.” — Director Sean Ward

an adventurous drop slide where you exit the slide 6 feet above the water. There will be plenty of shade both on the pool deck and in the water.”

Ward said that slide will harken back to the old days in Mayfield Heights when the former slide stood at their old aquatic center.

He said that the new rendition of the giant slide will be a welcomed bit of nostalgia for they city’s longtime residents.

“Our team is working diligently to get this facility built as quickly as possible,” Ward said. “Our focus is to get the pool portion completed in time to open this summer, with the remainder of the building set to open in the fall. There are still some challenges before us, but the mild winter weather has been a blessing to make up time that was lost from earlier construction and supply chain delays.”