In March 2014, Szostak Design and Counsilman-Hunsaker were commissioned by the City of Durham General Services Department to prepare a comprehensive assessment of the city’s five aquatic facilities and four spraygrounds. The team collected existing documentation, performed detailed site surveys of each facility and interviewed numerous aquatics department staff members. During this initial phase of the investigation, the team identified a serious electrical hazard at Long Meadow Pool and recommended closure of the facility until repairs could be initiated. The team assisted in the development of a series of emergency repairs intended to permit the pool to reopen for the 2015 summer swimming season.
Concurrent with the work at Long Meadow, the team finalized a list of code violations and deficiencies for each of the other aquatic facilities and prepared an estimate of probable cost for the necessary repairs and renovations. The team made two presentations of its findings to the Durham City Council, one in October 2014, which focused on Long Meadow Pool, followed by a full aquatics overview in January 2015.
In January 2015, Counsilman-Hunsaker and Ratio Architects were retained by the City of Durham to present an Aquatics Master Plan presentation. After extensive feedback from the community, a toolbox of options was drafted for multiple types of pools with project costs to give the city an idea of what they could build within their budget. The city was also presented with a recommended 5 to15-year implementation plan for the entire aquatics system. This consisted of multiple pools (city-wide) to meet the growing needs of the City of Durham.