Cravens Pool won't reopen until 2024

Aug. 10—When Owensboro city commissioners voted to use $750,000 in federal dollars to renovate Cravens Pool, the hope was for the pool to be ready for swimming by the summer of 2023.

But city officials said Tuesday the city wasn't able to find a contractor who would commit to that timeline, and the new goal is to have the pool reopened by the summer of 2024.

Cravens Pool was last open in 2019. City pools were closed in 2020, and the following year the Green River District Health Department identified four violations that had to be fixed before the pool could reopen.

City Parks Director Amanda Rogers recommended the pool be repaired and new features added. Commissioners allocated American Rescue Plan Act funds to the project.

At Tuesday's commission work session, City Manager Nate Pagan said, "we did bid the project. Unfortunately, we didn't get any bids."

Rogers told commissioners she spoke to contractors she thought would likely bid, but was told problems getting construction materials made them unwilling to bid.

After the meeting, Rogers said, "In speaking with a couple of contractors, they had concerns about our timeline."

Rogers said the contractors said they had ongoing projects that were facing delays of materials, and they were unable to guarantee they could meet the project's deadline next year.

"They just were not comfortable committing themselves to that," she said.

Rogers said the project will be rebid next year, and she believes there will be interest from contractors, given the number that downloaded the bid specs and additional bid materials.

"We had over 20 different (contractors) download the bid packet," Rogers said.

When a contractor is chosen, they will have more time to complete the work than was in the original bid.

The city, Rogers said, will give contractors "a 12-month window."

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse