The Winchester City Council has issued letters to their bidders for their Phase 1 renovations on their public pool. On Wednesday last week, the council formally rejected all bids submitted to the project because the costs were simply too high, according to a report by the Scott County Times.
The city received an Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development or OSLAD Grant for the projected $670,000 project that included a new filter house, a new bath house, and a new pool liner. The 50/50 matching grant would require the city to pick up any costs over the total costs. Benton & Associates, who were charge of the design of the project, tried to find ways to cut cost, but were unable to get the cost down. All bids for the project came in over $1 million, according to the Times’ report. Phase 2 that include the new bath house and pool liner will have to wait.
Currently, the pool is inoperable due to the broken pumps at the filter house. The council has decided to move forward with just fixing the filter house to keep the pool open. Phase 1 bids will be open at Winchester City Hall on Thursday, February 27th.