“It’s coming along good,” Marshall Parks and Recreation Superintendent Preston Stensrud said this week. “We had the last pour on the pool deck (Wednesday) morning.”

Some of the next areas construction will focus on will include landscaping work and installation of a permanent fence around the center, Stensrud said.

In an online progress update on the aquatic center, Marshall city staff said progress had been made on several major elements of the facility. Some of the updates that could be seen from the street this week included installation of play structures like basketball hoops, and the lower section of the tube slide at the water slide tower. Work crews were also continuing to place tile in the lap pool, zero-depth entry pool and leisure river features of the aquatic center.

Work inside the buildings at the aquatic center is also getting closer to completion. Windows were installed at the ticket and concessions counters, and minimal electrical, plumbing and mechanical work still needs to be done inside the buildings.

Photo by Deb Gau Concrete work at the Aquatic Center also meant pouring sidewalks. Workers were busy at the center's new entry area on Friday afternoon.

Landscaping and fence installation is planned to start next week, Stensrud said. The fencing around the aquatic center will be a vinyl-coated black chain link, he said. Some of the landscaping work planned for the facility will help provide a “filter” between the pool area and the street, he said.

Stensrud said plaster work in the pools will come a little later, possibly around early July.

There’s still no official date yet for the new Aquatic Center to open. Stensrud said after construction is finished, there are still steps the city will need to take before the pool is ready for visitors. First the facility’s mechanical systems will need to be up and running, so they can be tested and inspected, he said.

In the meantime, the current Marshall Aquatic Center near Legion Field Park is open for the season. Attendance started to pick up as sunshine and summer heat returned early in the week, Stensrud said.

“Monday and Tuesday were very busy,” he said.

Photo by Deb Gau Over the past weeks, frames for shade structures and play features have appeared at the zero-depth entry pool and splash pad areas of the Aquatic Center.

Photo by Deb Gau Features like basketball hoops were recently installed at the zero-depth entry pool.

Photo by Deb Gau Diving boards are now in place by the Aquatic Center's lap and deep water pool.