An early look at Avon’s plan to remodel its recreation center
Aquatics area will be closed from April through late November during construction
Courtesy Photo
The Avon Recreation Center needs — and plans — to update its pool. The aquatics facility, including the pool, hot tub and water slide, relies on piping and filtration systems that were installed when the recreation center was built 30 years ago.
The remodel is scheduled to begin in April and wrap up by Thanksgiving, with the aquatics area closed for the duration of construction.
“It needs to start in April to be done by the 2026 ski season,” said Town Manager Eric Heil during a presentation to the Avon Town Council on Dec. 9.
Why renovate?
The Avon Recreation Center was built in 1995 for $6 million.
The facility was renovated in 2008, 2018 and 2023. However, none of the renovations specifically targeted the aquatics area.
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In May 2021, the hot tub sprang a significant leak that took staff several months to repair. Since then, the hot tub has not had functional jets.
The town added replacing the pool deck to the capital improvements projects list in 2022, but removed it in 2024 after identifying the project’s enormous scope.
“We’ve been working on this for a while,” Heil said. “We got to a point last year where we were looking at budgeting the pool deck and then realized it was a lot more than just replacing the pool deck.”
Earlier this year, Avon hired Terracon Consultants to evaluate the condition of all town facilities. The Avon Recreation Center was assessed to be in poor condition.
“For the rec center, the aquatics area was shown as the top priority,” Heil said.
In 2024, the town hired Centennial-based general contractor A.D. Miller to provide an assessment of the work required to refurbish the aquatics area.
The council considered expanding the pool’s footprint to make it Olympic-size, but the improvement would have required a new pool footprint, significantly upscaling the project’s cost.
“Mostly out of financial limitations, we focused on what we had to do, and not what might be ideal for refurbishment of the aquatics center,” Heil said.
“There was a lot of public interest and enthusiasm about the pool area,” said Mayor Tamra Nottingham Underwood. “I know this is not a competition pool … the fact of the matter is we simply cannot afford that, sadly.”
The anticipated cost of the aquatics center remodel has been included in the town’s 2026 budget. The project cost is currently estimated at around $7.6 million, though final estimates will be presented to the council in March.
What the remodel will include
The majority of the renovations will be on the pool deck, but the leisure pools and the water slide will also see significant changes.
“The existing water slide is 30 years old with various repairs over the years, and they’ve gotten to the stage where they’re unable to repair it and it needs to be replaced,” said Keith Fraser, the town’s senior engineer.
In the current draft design, the water slide will leave and reenter the building, with the landing pool located where the hot tub is now. The hot tub will be moved to the southwest corner of the building.
All the mechanical and plumbing systems for the aquatics area will also be replaced.
“Most of the piping in there is over 30 years old, and it has reached the end of its useful life,” Fraser said.
The pool, while not adding lanes, will see new gutter filters.
“That’s a big expense, but, as I understand it, that will really improve the swimmability in that lane pool, as well as the filter and how it functions,” Heil said.
The Town Council authorized staff to move forward with a design-build contract on Dec. 9, hiring A.D. Miller for $628,000 to produce a proposal for construction by the end of March.
When construction begins in April, only the aquatics area will be closed. The rest of the facility will remain operational.
“Any disruption to the rest of the rec center, I think, will be minimal,” Heil said. “There probably will be some at different points, but it should be minimal. The lobby, locker rooms, weight rooms, circuits, that should all stay open throughout the entire construction (project).”
“This has been a really long process. It went from tens of millions of dollars to where we are today. It has been really, really thorough,” said Rich Carroll, mayor pro tem. “This is such a huge community asset … I look forward to this work being done.”
