Currently a project is being constructed to create an Aquatic and Community Center for the residents of Mayfield Heights.

Sean Ward, the Mayfield Heights Recreation Director, is helping to oversee the project.  He said, “So if we’re just talking about the pool, we have two pools, the shallow pool I’m going to call that a leisure pool, and we have spray features in there (it has a zero depth feature for little kids). Probably one of the most exciting things for high school kids would be our slide tower (it’s going to be 34 foot high), and there’s a total of 6 slides coming off of there. Of course, a concession stand and pavilion will be available, so we’re really looking forward to it.”

Ward feels that this project will be well-marketed. He said, “I guess we’ll market it through Facebook and all of the city publications that we have. The mayor has an email blast that he sends out once a month with various things that people wanna know about, so we’ll advertise in there. We’ll probably have a brochure coming out that we can put the information in.

Ward said, “And then, of course, the fact that we have a 34 foot high slide and people know about this project, they’ll see it coming together as they drive by and hear their friends and neighbors talking about it because it’s a pretty big project so it has a lot of people that know about it and so I think that the marketing is going to be fairly easy to get the word out about that.”

According to Ward, the city passed an income tax increase back in 2020 that helped fund this project.  He said, “You may live in Mayfield Heights, but if you work, let’s say in Mentor, then you wouldn’t get charged that income tax. I don’t live in Mayfield Heights, but I work in Mayfield Heights so I’m getting charged a portion of my income, and it’s taxed as part of that income tax.”

Ward admits they can’t make everyone happy with this project, and one anticipated problem is a lack of parking spaces. “When it’s really busy, there could be a lack of parking and so we need to be aware of that and put in places where we can have auxiliary parking and make it as easy as possible to get those auxiliary parking spaces and the people in those spaces to the building in a safe manner.”

Councilman Nino Monaco disagreed with the preliminary plan because of recommendations suggested by the city Planning Commision. He said, “I casted a lone vote against approving the preliminary plan, stating that the city’s planning commission recommended a variance of 130 parking spaces, and that council needed to take action to approve that variance before approving the preliminary plan.”

Monaco and everyone involved in constructing this project had to come to an agreement. He said, “The Planning Commission, along with levelHEADS and our group, we got together and (asked), ‘Do we have enough spaces?’ We have more (with the preliminary plan) than we have now (onsite). ‘Is the parking across the street enough, to go along with parking next to the pool, to suffice for what is needed?’ We came to the conclusion that, ‘Yes.’”

For this project to be successful, Ward thinks it takes a combination of communication and coordination among all team members.  He said,  “So that would include the architect, the constructing manager, and the owner of who in this case is the city. So we hire our architect and our construction manager and make sure we’re all on the same page with what we want and how it’s going to be delivered. 

Monaco agrees that this project will be successful for families in the community. He said, “I think it’s a great legacy that we could have a walkway area where we could do this. I think it would be successful, just knowing the people that have loved Mayfield Heights for so many years. That they’d like their legacy to continue. With a new project like this, I think it’s a great place to do it.”

Ward and his team are excited for what an advantage of a project this will be for the residents of Mayfield Heights. He said, “The old pool was built in 1958 and so it was old, tired, and well outlived its life expectancy. So with our new facility, we believe it’s going to be great for the residents of our city and… there’s something for everyone so we’re excited to see the pool open this summer.”

The outdoor pool area is expected to open between June 30-July 7, according to this recent news story.  For more information, visit the official website.