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Show A12 Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Vernal Express Rec Center Continued from Al that would stay at bid levels. "This helped us stay so close to budget," said Miller. Because of a colder than normal nor-mal winter tasks like concrete work took longer than anticipated anticipat-ed due to the extra time needed to work the concrete around the structural steel. Miller said that it took seven weeks to pre-fabricate, glue, coat with concrete and shape the foam blocks used on the climbing wall that will feature six climbing stations going up 37 feet. Knives were used to texture and groove the final look of the wall before it was coated with color and hand textured. Miller also noted that it was a very safe project for Layton Construction as the only injury was a broken leg suffered by a worker who slipped on some ice while getting out of a truck. There were times when workers work-ers were hard to come by with most of the subcontractors having hav-ing to bring in their own crews. "Not having an available workforce drives up costs," explained Miller. "This is because be-cause contractors have to bring them in, plus pay a per diem expense." Miller explained some crews stayed in local motels and even rented homes and apartments. "The motels are extremely ex f - f 5 ' T 1 If "I'f F f awm Tm ,- J' ! 3 The competition pool features six lanes plus one and three meter The pool drops to 13 feet in the diving end. V x pensive to stay in, even more than in Salt Lake and this forced some people to even purchase houses to live in for six months hoping they will come out okay in the end." "We have also had to be very diligent in notifying people who are coming out here to work that they will need to start finding a place to stay some three to four weeks ahead of when they begin," said Miller. "Right now I can't get temporary labor to come in and sweep the building or to clean up. There are just no people needing to work." Transportation costs also drive up the cost of commercial building in Vernal. "This adds between $500 and $1,000 to anything that we have shipped to Vernal," explained Miller. It took 34 trucks to haul the steel alone. "Right now it is expensive to build in Vernal." The building features a state-of-the-art mechanical room with a 3 million BTU and two 2 million BTU furnaces that will be used to heat water for the pools and supply hot water to forced air heating systems for the 70,000-square-foot facility. The kids' pool will be heated to 86 degrees and the lap pool will be kept at 82 degrees. Expected annual utility costs are projected to be about $210,000. These costs will be off-set by mineral lease funds as well as membership fees. "The building is expected to be subsidized to about $300,000 - 1 J - j I'll.. . Efficiency. Process. Accountability. X v' K per year," explained Rodgerson. "One benefit is that the current pool will be closing and that facility loses about $250,000 per year. So the net loss to the district will be an additional $50,000 per year." When it is all completed the building will feature a 13-foot-deep diving and racing pool with six lanes. There will be both a one- and three-meter diving board. The water front area will feature two pool slides dropping almost 30 foot, one in a gradual manner and the other in a scream-producing steep angle. Young kids will have fun getting get-ting wet in a huge playground of equipment in a zero-entry pool with water ranging from none to 24 inches. There is also a lap pool, water massage area and a lazy river. The bottom of the pool in this area features a padded vinyl membrane to protect the feet of waders. There will also be a special dance floor big enough for 25 people to exercise to tunes played over an extreme stereo system. Sports running flooring will also be installed in the track area on the second floor where 12 laps will equal a mile. There are two oversized basketball courts with a curtain in the middle as a divider. If the baskets are pulled up, three volleyball vol-leyball games can be played at the same time. The two larger courts can also be divided to accommodate four Junior Jazz diving boards in the deep end. v - ' '. j ;- ----- Ju :i " r- &'J"' 77.11' " " ' . -s -U s - ir tl UllMI liTnif ' S T lllMmMiM 'Will at District secretary Cora Barton looks out over the oversized basketball court area of the new facility that features two full-sized courts. basketball games at the same time. "We are not a banquet building build-ing like Western Park, but we can be a family reunion and large party headquarters where you bring your own food," said Dan Rodgerson, executive manager of the recreation district. "We have three birthday rooms for eight to 12 people each, or the room can be opened up to support a party of 40 that is open to the swimming area." The second floor of the building equal a mile. The climbing wall "Wow! Is how I describe it," said Peterson. She explained her daughter toured the facility recently. When inside she turned around taking in all the building and turned to her mother and stated, "No wonder you have had so many meetings to go to." "This will be a huge asset to the community and a fun place to come and be kids again," said Peterson. Crews should be finished with i . , V ''- is surrounded by a six lane running on the left reaches allows climbers v J i v rw -- ' S e&f - t - , s 5 : CEmerCrest Energy. Efficiency. Sustainability. the facility on May 1 and management man-agement will take a few weeks to move into the offices and get the building equipped and ready for a "soft" opening of the facility scheduled for the end of May. The grand opening is expected around the first week in June. Passes to the new facility are currently for sale at recreation district offices and scheduling is also available for the facility, said Rodgerson. t. r"-T": i, - ri '" J'-f 1 and jogging track where 1 2 laps to scale 37 feet up. V |