Bob Southern, assistant to the president for project development, and Dawn Boren, director of resident life, display the site plan for the new aquatic center from the current Island pool.
SHELL POINT PLANS FOR
New Aquatic Center B Y D AW N B O R E N ,
It was announced at the June Quarterly Meeting that after 40 years of service, The Island pool and Health Club pool are in need of replacement. Unfortunately, it has been determined that the Health Club pool no longer meets certain code requirements and that it would be too costly to make modifications to The Island pool that would bring it up to Shell Point standards. Therefore, the decision has been made to move forward with the replacement of both pools, as well as the hot tub at The Island Health Club. Whenever we look at options for acquiring new programs, facilities, and equipment, we take the necessary time to 8
Shell Point Life | July 2012
complete a thorough review of every aspect in order to ensure that we capture new innovations and exhibit best practices. The process of evaluating the options for replacing The Island and Health Club pools has certainly been an example of Shell Point’s commitment to offering its residents the best services and programs available.
Multi-Purpose Design Instead of replacing The Island Pool with a design and scope similar to the existing pool, we explored a broader vision for water activity at Shell Point’s Island campus. After identifying a designer, we solicited the feedback of a focus group com-
DIRECTOR
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prised of both residents and staff members with varying interests in the pool area and its use. This included daily pool users, aqua fitness participants, lap swimmers, traditional sunbathers, and the neighboring Sundial residents. The feedback and suggestions were quite informative and helped the designer create a vision that encompassed the residents’ needs across all levels of care with broad aquatic interests and varying physical abilities. The focus group determined that, in addition to creating opportunities to meet the diverse interests of our current residents and guests, the new pool area had to be versatile enough to meet the program goals and changing needs of residents for the next 40 years.