City Council wants contract adjusted before moving forward with aquatics center

City of Lawton officials are still adjusting a contract that will allow construction of a new aquatics center in Elmer Thomas Park.

City Council members awarded a construction contract to Miller-Tippens Construction in July, but also directed city staff, designers and the firm to engage in “value engineering” to bring down the cost of what was a $19.9 million contract. Engineers brought two of four proposals to the council on Tuesday, proposals that would reduce the cost by $705,049. But, rather than make a decision, council members directed corrections to the contract — to include exactly who was going to pave the parking lot — before they voted.

Those changes are expected to come back to the council for approval at its next regular meeting.

The estimated $19.9 million project would build a facility featuring pools with diving boards and lap lanes, a lazy river, slides, changing rooms/bathrooms, concessions building, and a parking lot for the complex to be located in central Elmer Thomas Park, near Playground in the Park and the spray park complexes.

Project manager Scott Vaughan said engineers had identified four potential area of savings that have been under discussion for weeks. Two were recommended Tuesday: eliminate the paved parking lot, and change the framing materials in the concessions building to wood. The combined value would drop the cost of the project to $19,194,951, Interim City Engineer Mike Jones said.

Vaughan said engineers still are analyzing two more proposals: eliminate air conditioning from the restrooms/changing rooms complex, and change building pad requirements based on soil conditions. Vaughan said engineers won’t have a recommendation on the building pad until site excavation actually begins and still are analyzing the idea of removing the air conditioning.

The parking lot paving proposal was a problem for the council because of confusion about who would do paving work. While documents indicated the city would do that work, engineers said the actual plan is to solicit new bids to find a contractor who may be able to do the work at less cost. Ward 8 Councilman Randy Warren said he was concerned because the construction plans he viewed specify a graveled parking lot, something he said is unsuitable in a windy area where dust from gravel is going to blow onto visitors.

Vaughan said the idea was that Miller-Tippens would merely place the gravel; someone else will pave it. Warren said he wanted construction documents to reflect that fact before the council votes on changes. Several council members also want more discussion about removing air conditioning from the restrooms/changing rooms, questioning whether that was suitable for a facility operating during hot summers.

“Air conditioning is a problem for me,” Warren said.

The decisions are important as Miller-Tippens moves closer to launching construction on a complex that council members want operational by July 4, 2025. While the facility is designed to offer aquatic amenities to local families while also drawing those outside the city, council members and city staff have indicated it also could replace the deteriorating municipal pool in Mattie Beal Park.

Funding for the project is coming from the city’s Capital Improvements Program (CIP), although the council approved action Tuesday that would lessen the cost to the CIP by designating $6.75 million remaining in Lawton’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation to the center. Under federal guidelines, Lawton must have all ARPA funding encumbered by Dec. 31 or risk losing it.