Details continue to unfold in $5 million Silver Lake Pool plan

Randy Petersen, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
Updated ·3 min read

Apr. 16—ROCHESTER — Plans for a new Silver Lake Park pool and splash pad continue to unfold.

"We were able to go back to the drawing board with being able to secure some additional funding," Andy Masterpole, a WSB senior landscape architect, told the Rochester Park Board during a Tuesday afternoon study session.

Last month, the Rochester City Council agreed to commit

$5 million to replace the pool and bathhouse

, rather than demolishing the pool and renovating the bathhouse to support a new splash pad.

Without the need to retain the existing building, Masterpole said plans call for scaling back the height of the existing hill by approximately 3 feet, which is expected to improve accessibility from the existing parking lot.

The new bathhouse to support the pool would be moved to the east, allowing the opportunity to move the splash pad closer to Seventh Street Northeast, with the new 25-meter, eight-lane pool proposed to be built south of the water feature. The maximum pool depth is expected to be 6 feet to allow the potential for future installation of a slide or other feature.

Masterpole said placement and design of the new building is expected to provide easy restroom access to the splash pad and skate park without requiring users to pay fees for pool access. The concession stand is also expected to have an exterior window.

Parks and Forestry Division Head Mike Nigbur said the placement of the proposed building is also intended to provide increased visibility of the skate park, which is being expanded as part of a first phase of larger Silver Lake Park improvements.

"The skaters are concerned about visibility," he told the Park Board. "They want to be visible and upfront, too."

To make way for the added visibility, the plans point toward moving a proposed basketball court to sit southeast of the pool, near the parking lot.

Nigbur said meetings with community members representing groups that will use the pool and skate park continue as plans are refined with the hope of presenting a final proposal to the Park Board on May 7 and the City Council on May 20.

Plans call for construction to start after the Silver Lake pool is closed following its final season. Work would continue through the summer of 2025, with plans to open the pool and splash pad the following summer.

As work on design continues, Nigbur said operation considerations continue to be discussed, The current plan points toward operating the splash pad without user fees, with fees required for pool use.

A fence is planned around the pool, but it has not been determined whether the splash pad will be fenced.

Park Board member Chad Ramaker suggested finding a way to make it easy for pool users to go between the pool and splash pad, while ensuring the access isn't misused by those who haven't paid.

"I know that creates an operational challenge for the parks department and swim club, but I think being able to have that option makes a lot more sense for the user," he said.

Nigbur said such options haven't been ruled out at this point.

"There are more conversations to be had about the operational aspects," he said.