The City of Jacksonville is holding to an aggressive time table to have the Nichols Park Pool reopened this summer.
The pool was closed last year due to a $1.7 million renovation project. The project includes a new guttering system, an updated bath house with a family-friendly section, and a zero-depth entry. Trotter Construction of Macomb was awarded the bid in July last year after bids for work came in higher than anticipated to the Jacksonville City Council.
Mayor Andy Ezard says that despite weather delays, he believes the pool will be open and ready to go around the first week of June: “It’s still in the works. We’re going to be aggressive on this still. It’s a June 1 deadline. I know that [Trotter] has been out there at the end of the year, and there was some bad weather. I hope they ramp their efforts up. I know that they know it’s important to the city, and I know our engineers Benton & Associates let them know how important it is to the city to get something done. If for some reason that June 1st date comes and goes, and if it is a July 1st date, we will make every effort to open that pool at some point this summer because I know it was deeply missed by many. And, we want to show it off, as well, because it will be a completely new look and we should be proud of what’s going to be there.”
The project is being funded through an OSLAD grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and portions of the city’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act funding among other sources. The City Council approved the project’s funding after paring down the project this past July.