Shortly after Columbus, Neb., closed the city?fs original Works Progress Administration pool built in 1936, citizens passed a referendum to fund a new outdoor family aquatic center. The 1.2 -cent sales tax will sunset in six years, generating enough money to pay for the new facility.
The 5,525-square-foot bathhouse is a split-faced masonry building with a low maintenance standing-seam steel roof. It has a family changing room and private showers in the locker rooms, and a fullservice concessions stand with a sheltered dining area. In addition, an events shelter can be used for private parties. Nearby, surrounded by a white picket fence, is a sand play area featuring six play features, a wash-off station and a shade structure.
The recreational pool is situated on 17.6 acres. The new pool has a surface area of 15,398 square feet, with a bather capacity of 1,026. Leisure elements include four large slides, featuring a swirl-bowl slide with its own 8-footdeep catch pool, the first in the state of Nebraska. A speed slide, a large body-flume slide and an enclosed inner-tube slide empty into the 400-footlong lazy river.
In a secluded splash-pad area connected to the zero-depth entry are a baby bungee and a squirting frog and whale, as well as floor geysers.
Foothills Recreation & Aquatics Center
