Photo courtesy of city of Marshall An aerial photo of the new Marshall aquatic center site earlier this month showed construction crews preparing for excavation work at the center’s lap pool. Contractors had also installed the footings and foundation walls for the pump pit inside the center’s mechanical building, and completed the footings for the bathhouse.

MARSHALL — Community fundraising has played a big role in helping add features to Marshall’s new aquatic center, Marshall Parks and Recreation Superintendent Preston Stensrud said this week. Stensrud estimated that donations for the aquatic center project currently add up to more than $800,000.

The city was able to include items like a splash pad and other features in construction of the new center, he said.

“We’re still going to have a really nice facility,” Stensrud said. “Support from the community has been really amazing, as always.”

Marshall voters approved the use of up to $18.37 million in local sales tax funding for the aquatic center, and the city is also putting about $1.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the project, city staff said this spring. But additional community fundraising efforts for the project have also been strong.

In March, when the Marshall City Council accepted construction bids for the project, Marshall administrative services director E.J. Moberg said the total donations had reached $420,000, with another $200,000 pledged in the future.

This week, Stensrud estimated that the current total of community fundraising contributions was between $800,000 and $900,000.

Stensrud said funding support helped make it possible for the city to fund bid alternates for additional amenities at the new aquatic center. The list of alternates includes a splash pad, two additional slides, a rock climbing wall for the deep water pool, and additional spray features in the activity pool, he said.

Another alternate that is less visible, but will help the longevity of the aquatic center, is additional sand under the pool decking, Stensrud said.

“The additional sand will help with stability,” he said. The sand acts as a base material to help prevent settling and cracking.

“Funding support for these amenities has been very successful,” Stensrud said. The splash pad was a popular feature, and something that Marshall community members have wanted for years, he said. However, many of the donations the city received weren’t dedicated for a specific amenity.

“We will continue to look to add other amenities to the site if more funding is received,” Stensrud said. Some examples could include adding more shade canopies or deck seating, he said.

Construction on the groundwork and foundations of parts of the new aquatic center made progress this month. In a June 25 construction update on the Marshall city website, the city said crews were working on backfilling for the center’s bathhouse, and starting excavation work for the foundations of the mechanical and concessions building. Masonry work was also underway for the bathhouse, as well as installing plumbing for the drains and installation of electrical conduit.

Groundwork was also underway for the center’s lap pool, the update said. Contractors were installing drainage tile underneath the pool, and getting ready to set the box form for the pool drains.

The current design for the aquatic center is one that was scaled down from the original, after construction bids came in overbudget last year. However, Stensrud said the new facility design should still be able to meet the needs of community programs like swimming lessons.

“We still have around 40% more surface area of water,” compared to the current aquatic center, he said. In some ways, it was hard to compare program space between the old and new centers, because there are different features and water depths. But Stensrud said the new aquatic center’s features like the activity pool and leisure river could possibly be used for purposes like lessons, in addition to the 25-meter lap pool. Stensrud said the activity pool will be 4.5 feet deep at its deep end, and with a zero-depth entry, the shallower areas could offer some potential to work with younger age groups of swimmers. The leisure river feature could also offer some additional space, by turning off the current, he said.

Stensrud estimated that more than 200 kids were signed up for swimming lessons at the aquatic center last year. Spots for lessons tend to fill up fast, he said. The size of the learn-to-swim program “is something we continue to evaluate, based on staffing,” Stensrud said.