Shores floats concept for new pool at Osius Park

GROSSE POINTE SHORES — For the first time in the lives of many Grosse Pointe Shores residents, the city is planning on building a new pool at Osius Park.

At more than 60 years old, the current pool is in need of replacement. While final costs for a new one aren’t yet known, city officials have started looking at possible plans and designs.

“As you know, we’ve been working on a proposed replacement of the pool and (renovation of the adjacent bathhouse) building,” City Manager Stephen Poloni told the Shores City Council at a meeting Sept. 17, noting that the city has been working with Partners in Architecture to draw up concepts. “This is stage one (in the process).”

“It’s exciting to see this project starting to advance and come to fruition,” City Councilwoman Sandra Cavataio said.

This proposal, prepared by Baruzzini Aquatics, calls for a slightly larger pool.

“I just want to tell you how excited all the parents of young children are with this (proposed new) pool,” said Shores resident Colleen Beland, volunteer manager with the city’s swim team, the Sharks. “We would love eight lanes, not six. Please don’t make the (new) pool smaller.”

Most of the other parks in the area have seven to 10 lanes, Park Director Jen Serra said.

“We run with six lanes now, and it’s not ideal,” Serra said.

The existing pool is about 7,000 square feet. A proposed eight-lane pool would be about 8,000 square feet, Baruzzini architect Nick Palizzi said.

“The goal is to make the pool the right size for you,” Palizzi told city officials.

Palizzi said they’re looking at a “zero-depth entry” kiddie pool, which would make it more accessible for grandparents going into the pool with their grandchildren.

One of the features they’re suggesting for the main pool is a current river, which Palizzi said is popular with older people as well as children.

One casualty of the plan would be the splash pad.

“The complaint we have currently about the splash pad is the water is too cold,” Mayor Ted Kedzierski said of the attraction, which doesn’t have heated water.

Pool professionals say kids age out of splash pads and they aren’t as popular as they once were.

Through multiple on-site meetings with staff, Partners in Architecture Project Manager Lauren Lee said they looked at the existing bathhouse building and its limitations, which they hope to address. While they intend to retain the building, it will be completely renovated and remodeled.

“There are some barrier-free issues” with the current restrooms, Lee said.

Parks and recreation staff want to be able to monitor the pool from their offices, so they’ll need to have windows that look out over the pool, Lee said.

The building would no longer have separate locker rooms, but Lee said there would be lockers. Along the same lines, the communal showers would be replaced by separate, private showers that could be used by men or women, as well as parents with small children.

The proposal calls for stacking the existing building, which Lee said would give the city a two-story building, with pool use the focus of the first floor and community use the focus of the second floor. She said the entire building would end up being roughly 10,000 square feet.

David Gassen, a principal with Partners in Architecture, said a 2005 soil study referenced by his team showed that the site could sustain the weight of the larger building, despite the presence of fill dirt.

Lee said there would be “amazing views” from the second floor, with a 2,236-square-foot community room and balcony overlooking Lake St. Clair. Gassen said it would cost about $160,000 to do a wraparound balcony.

“The intent would be to maximize those views,” Lee said.

The community room, with an occupancy of 100, could be reserved by residents for a bridal or baby shower or other special events. While there wouldn’t be a kitchen to prepare meals from scratch, Lee said there would be a staging room where food could be kept hot or cold. There would be restrooms on the second floor as well, Lee said.

Poloni felt adding a second story to the existing building would be a better option than creating a more sprawling single-story building.

“I’d rather go up than use more park (land),” Poloni said. “We want to use as little park space as possible.”

Lee said they expect it to cost about $1.3 million to prepare the site. The new pool, including a current river, is slated to cost another $3.45 million, she said. With a 10% contingency, Lee said the total cost of the project is projected to cost about $9.95 million. After adding in furniture, fixtures, equipment, security and the like, she said the total is likely to be about $10.925 million.

“We’re trying to optimize the plan as much as we can for the budget,” Lee said.

The nonprofit Grosse Pointe Shores Improvement Foundation — which is marking its 40th anniversary this year — plans to raise funds in earnest for the pool project in the coming year, although it wasn’t clear at press time how much money they might be able to contribute. The city is also benefiting from a gift from a former resident. In late 2023, the city learned it had been given a gift of $1,238,111 from the Carole Ann Williams Trust.

Poloni said the only stipulation on the Williams contribution was that it be used toward improvements to the park.

Williams was the only child of Jack G. and Gwen B. Williams, of Grosse Pointe Shores. Jack Williams served as the Shores Village Council president from 1954 to 1964, making him the longest-tenured council president — or, since the Shores became a city, mayor — until Mayor Ted Kedzierski, who has served as the city’s top elected official since 2011.

A graduate of Grosse Pointe University School — now University Liggett School — and Mount Vernon Junior College in Washington, D.C., Carole Ann Williams died May 23, 2023, at the age of 84. Her obituary said she worked in the events department for the Hudson’s department store for many years and was a member of the Junior League of Detroit and Sigma Gamma Association, as well as a former member of the Women’s Economic Club of Detroit.

Kedzierski said the pool project is something city officials will continue to delve into as plans firm up.

“The centerpiece, the crown jewel of our city is the park,” Kedzierski said. “We have something special here.”

City Councilman John Dakmak remembers being in the Shores swim program when he was a child, and now his own two children participate in that program.

“To do this is going to take a lot of effort,” Dakmak said. “This is a generational event and this is a legacy for everybody involved. We are going to be extremely cost-conscious. … I think we’re going to have a wonderful project.”

Baruzzini Aquatics owner Tony Baruzzini said the new pool would have a life expectancy of about 50 to 60 years.