Lake Thoreau Pool Update

By Barbara Khan

The pool design consultants, Kimley-Horn Associates, put together a presentation of two plans for our remodeled Lake Thoreau pool. It is an excellent explanation of what they considered and how they put the design considerations in place. See the link below to watch the presentation and provide comments via the email listed:

PRESENTATION: Please use this link https://www.reston.org/capital-projects and scroll down to view the Lake Thoreau Pool Project presentation and meeting information.

COMMENTS: Please send comments by Aug. 7 to capitalprojects@reston.org.

SUMMARY
No kiddie pool or diving board in either pool concept. Spa remains and parking spots increased to 25 in both.
The focus group studies produced “must haves” and “nice to haves”:
Must haves were spa, lap lanes, zero-depth entry, views to lake, shade retention, and lake access.
Nice to haves were art, food concession, grassy area, and heated pool



(1) Parking – county requires about 25 spots; we currently have 16. There may be ways to eliminate a couple of those. No mention of whether on-street parking is taken into account in the calculation.
(2) Building – will be about 20% larger to accommodate ADA requirements and extra equipment since the designs include heated water for extended swimming hours/season.
(3) Food concession – rather than build a kitchen in the building with all its incumbent regulations, the design calls for places where a food truck could come and sit to offer food to those at the pool.
(4) Art – to implement the desired design element of art, the consultants suggested mosaic tiles at the bottom of the pool, decorative fountains near the zero-depth entry, and sculptures in the building lobby or murals on the building walls.

The picture at the top is at the end of the presentation. It shows the two concepts side-by-side. The next meeting is August 25 via Zoom.