Thirty to 40 workers finish up tasks every day, including weekends, in order to get Greenwood’s aquatic center done on time.
The weather has been good since a week of sporadic rain early this month, so construction workers are rapidly closing in on completion of Freedom Springs, Greenwood projects manager John Shell said.
The remaining work has been scheduled, and contractors should be finished by May 11, giving the city about two weeks to fill the pool, balance chemicals, train lifeguards, set up furniture and ready the concession stands. Opening day is set for May 23.
The $7.2 million project was far behind schedule at the beginning of the year because frequent rain and cold weather had kept workers from doing as much concrete work as planned. Workers finished interior work and poured concrete on days that were warm enough. But crews ramped up activity this month in order to finish on time.
“For the last week and a half, we’ve been ripping. We worked last Saturday and Sunday and plan on working this Saturday and Sunday, too,” Shell said.
He said the contractor, R.L. Turner out of Zionsville, has assured the city the work will be finished on time.
Workers need to finish pouring the concrete pool deck, wrap up laying tile around the lazy river and pools, build three shelter houses, pave and stripe the parking lot, lay sod and finish landscaping.
Contractors were pouring concrete Thursday morning to finish up the final 10 percent of the deck that surrounds the pools and lazy river. Right now, the lap pool is filled with scaffolding instead of water, as workers finish affixing tiles around the rim of the pool, which is up to 13 feet deep.
People driving by next week should see three 10-foot shelter houses being built, which will be noticeable because of their red-and-blue roofs. The paving company will lay down base layers of asphalt and put on a final topcoat over the next two weeks, Shell said. That contractor also is responsible for building the two trails along Averitt Road and the park entrance for pedestrians and cyclists.
