The blackboard in the former School District 166 classroom— now the Mianowski Conference Room—came in handy after the latest meeting of the Cook County Steering Committee on Friday, June 22. Architect Dan Miller of JLG Architects talked to steering committee members about building design and sketched some concepts while he listened.
At the start of the Cook County Community Center Steering Committee meeting on Friday, June 22, recently appointed member Cathi Williams shared a document that was put together in 2008 by another group, the Cook County Joint Powers Recreation Board titled Grand Marais Municipal Pool Information.
The information packet refers to consultant evaluations of the existing municipal swimming pool, starting with Conservation Technologies in 2002; Damberg, Scott, Gerzina, Wagner Architects in 2003; and Burbach Aquatics, Inc. in 2006. The group considered pros and cons of the existing site versus a community center location. And members of the group contacted or toured six pool/recreational complexes such as Bayfield, Wisconsin and Ada, MN.
Williams recalled the time she spent on that board and she echoed the frustration that some steering committee members have expressed. “This is a consensus statement from the Cook County Joint Powers Recreation Board. This has been going on since 2006, at least.
In the consensus cover letter, the joint powers board wrote, “It is our consensus that a community pool is an important asset for Grand Marais and Cook County. You will see that we believe that the existing structure and pool must be replaced. And, you will see it is our consensus that the best location for a new pool is on the current Cook County Community Center grounds.”
The members of the joint powers board were county representatives, city representatives and school representatives.
After discussing past activities regarding the pool and community center, the steering committee spent some time answering the questions of Dan Miller of JLG Architects. Miller has been tasked with designing the community center facility attached to the west end of the School District 166 campus. The steering committee also discussed changes to the existing community center building and the ice rinks. The group reiterated that it is recommending that the ice rink be installed as soon as possible and the exact determination of the warming house be made later. Possible locations of a warming house were discussed.
Miller will return with architectural drawings for the joint county/school board/YMCA meeting from 2 – 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 12. A public input meeting will be held that day from 6-8 p.m. at the Mianowski Conference Room.
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