For a long time, it was just a dream: a new community swimming pool for Rice Lake to replace the aging and outdated facility that continues to see heavy use, nearly a half-century after opening its doors. But the dream is now about seven months away from reality.
“We’re largely on time,” said Pat Blackaller of the Rice Lake Aquatic and Recreation Center, anticipating a March 2025 opening. After breaking ground last fall, work on the site behind the present pool, adjacent to Hilltop Elementary School, has been steady, with no serious supply-chain issues hampering construction.
“There’s always little things,” Blackaller said, “but nothing atypical of any other project.”
The new facility, covering 43,000 square feet, will feature two large pools, one with zero-depth entry, a slide and other play features. The other will be for competition and exercise, featuring eight 25-yard lanes, allowing Rice Lake High School to host WIAA-sanctioned meets. A grandstand will seat some 300 spectators, more than triple the current pool’s capacity. The entire facility will be a community recreation center, with a large court for basketball, volleyball and pickleball, plus a running/walking track on the second floor, along with rooms for physical training and meetings.
The project’s genesis came in 2017, when the city of Rice Lake announced it would no longer contribute its half of funding for the pool, which had been part of a partnership with the School District since the pool’s opening some 40 years earlier. Each side was contributing $130,000 a year, said Steve Bowman, who has been working on raising funds for the new project. Bowman and Randy Cook, also on the fundraising side, say the new project is in good shape financially, with a total cost of $28-30 million expected. The Rice Lake Aquatic and Recreation Center is a non-profit, allowing it to take advantage of favorable tax-credit laws that will provide additional funding. When complete, the School District will lease the facility from the non-profit, allowing the borrowing of additional money. Local fundraising efforts have already netted $2 million, with a goal of $6 million within reach.
“Businesses have stepped up,” Cook said, also noting that organizations such as the Rotary Club have contributed significant dollars to the project.
Next stepPhase 2, the razing of the old pool and construction of a new Boys & Girls Club on the site, will begin when Phase 1, the new pool and community center, is completed. Bowman said the new Boys & Girls Club will be a massive improvement over the club’s current facility, the century-old Lincoln School building, which has no air conditioning and no handicapped-access features, among other detriments. Bowman and Cook emphasized the long-term benefits to the community that the completed project will provide: better overall health, improved property values, and even lower crime rates, as generations of Rice Lake children will be able to form healthy relationships with their peers through the Boys & Girls Club and the community center.
“It’s multi-generational,” Bowman said, and adds that talks are ongoing now between the non-profit and the mayor’s office to explore ways that the city can participate in the project.
Anyone driving past the construction site has to be impressed with it. Blackaller has heard the positive comments and the excitement the project is generating.
“I’ve not heard anything negative,” he said. The non-profit’s website, ricelakecommunitycenter.org , provides detailed renderings and videos that showcase how the finished project will look. Individuals and families can donate directly through the website. Contributors will be recognized with plaques on the Donor Wall alongside the track. As for the new pool, current longtime swimmers, including this reporter, can’t wait to dive in on Day One.
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