Work on Wheeling’s new aquatic center will start in March

The Wheeling Park District’s long-developing plan to build a new aquatic center on the site of the current one finally has a firm price tag — and a target for getting underway.

This week, the parks board set the maximum price for construction at $29.5 million. Once architectural work and other aspects of the project are added, the estimated total is $32 million, park district Executive Director Jan Buchs said Friday.

Funding will come from district reserves.

Zion-based Camosy Construction will oversee the project. Demolition of the current 4-acre facility at 105 Community Blvd. should begin next month, Buchs said, and construction could start in May.

“Both the board and staff are very excited about being able to begin this project,” Buchs said.

The work should be done in spring or summer 2027, in time for the aquatic season, Buchs said.

The new park was designed by Confluence, a Chicago-based landscape architecture and planning firm.

A 16,500-square-foot swimming pool, a smaller pool just for adults, a play structure, two body slides and a drop slide are planned. So are a bath house, a concession area, party shelters and a space featuring cabanas that could be rented.

Because of the construction, the existing center won’t open to the public as usual this summer. Day camps at the nearby Community Recreation Center will be held, but the kids will take field trips to water parks in other towns.