GILLETTE, Wyo. — The Gillette City Council will consider renewing an agreement providing free open swim sessions at the Campbell County Recreation Center this summer during its next meeting.
If approved, the city will pay Campbell County Parks and Recreation $40,000 to renew an agreement allowing residents access to free open swim sessions through August 2024 starting at the end of May, according to the council’s agenda.
Per the city, the agreement has been in place since June 24, 2022, when the city first secured a free open swim option for residents shortly after the city pool closed for reconstruction.
Reconstruction, however, was delayed early last year when the council voted to reject a contractor project bid that came in millions of dollars over what the city expected to pay based on engineering estimates.
Then, the council voted to reject a $5.4 million bid from Powder River Construction, the only company to submit a bid for the project and, presumably, at the request of the city staff who expressed concerns over the lack of bids. Hyun Kim, former city administrator, urged the council to reject the bid due to budget constraints, with several councilmembers agreeing that $5 million for a new pool was too much at the time.
The project was intended to go back out to bid with the council’s decision, which ultimately pushed the new pool completion date to 2025.