JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Christiansburg's aquatics center will house three pools and will feature space for such uses as recreational swimming and Atlantic Coast Conference and other swimming meets.

| Sharla Bardin

sharla.bardin@roanoke.com, 381-1669

CHRISTIANSBURG -- January is the new target date for completion of the town's aquatics center.

Town council received a project update Tuesday night, when they were told some of the reasons that are preventing the center from opening in October -- the most-recent goal for the project that was originally expected to be complete in December 2008.

The goal now is to finish the center by late January, said Sam Lionberger III, president of Lionberger Construction, the project's contractor.

Lionberger and center architect Glenn Reynolds told the council they remain optimistic about where the project is now and are pleased with its quality.

"We're certainly behind where we wanted to be, but we're going to get there," Lionberger said.

The center will house three pools and will feature space for such uses as recreational swimming and Atlantic Coast Conference and other swimming meets.

The delays in the project have been caused by design changes, waiting for custom-made light fixtures and their installation, as well as installation of a scoreboard and the computerized scoring and timing system for the competitive pool.

Reynolds said the scoreboard is funded by private donations and cost approximately $450,000.

The representatives said some work at the center now has to follow a certain order.

The first is the installation of the lights, which will involve a forklift to reach the 50-foot ceiling. The lights have not arrived and were expected last week, project officials said.

The next step involves installing a conduit system to support the scoring and timing system for the competitive pool and then pouring the concrete slab for the competitive pool deck. After that, tiling for the floor will be done, Lionberger said.

Crews can't pour the concrete now because the forklift to install the lights would damage the concrete.

Also, "we have to have forklift access through the same area that we have to construct the conduit system," he said.

Town Manager Lance Terpenny has also said that part of the delay has been some design changes, such as setting aside space for the maintenance staff at the center. The move cost some time but no more money, he said last week.

Lionberger said project representatives did think the center could be finished by the end of October, which they discussed with the council in a June meeting.

"We were not being careless. We had every confidence that we could get there," Lionberger said.

At the time, though, "the full scope of the timing and scoring system had not been developed," he said.

Councilman Jim Vanhoozier said in the meeting that he didn't understand why the project representatives hadn't come back to the council to update members on the project.

Reynolds and Lionberger said they would come to the council once a month with an update.

Lionberger Construction and Reynolds Architects have been responsible for the project, and the construction contract for the center is $14.78 million.

Site work started on the center in late 2007, but construction did not begin in full until design drawings were received in May 2008, Lionberger said.

The 64,000-square-foot, two-story building features a 50-meter diving pool, a leisure pool with a two-story water slide and water features, a heated therapy pool and fitness area.

The center will also be used by people outside of the Christiansburg community and Virginia Tech.

In April, the town council voted to adopt a contract for Tech's use of the aquatics center.

According to the 25-year agreement, Christiansburg will give Tech exclusive privileges at the center, including reserved pool times for team training and rights to host swim meets. The university, in return, will pay the town $5 million -- $250,000 annually for the next 20 years.

The delay in the opening of the center has also resulted in the rescheduling of an area event.

The delay prompted the New River Valley Triathlon, an event that was scheduled to use the center's pool for the swimming leg of the event, to be postponed. The triathlon was originally set for July 12, was then pushed back to Oct. 11 and was then rescheduled to next summer.

There is also much interest from residents about the opening of the center.

Mayor Richard Ballengee said the community has been talking about a pool for at least 12 years and there are frequent questions about when it will open. He also described the center as one of the best things to happen to the town. Some council members said they remain excited about the center and want it to be done right.

"We do have a world-class facility coming," said Councilman Mike Barber.

Lionberger said the project will be an asset to the community and the goal from day one has been to create a quality product.

"We are very proud to be involved in this project," Lionberger said. "We're not willing to compromise time for quality."