The Bismarck Park District will provide the public with a variety of alternatives for the future of Hillside Pool when it holds a two-day open house on the subject this week.

Information on where the pool and surrounding Lions Park are now and what options are available for the site will be displayed, allowing the public to study it at their leisure, ask questions of district staff in attendance and make comments that will be compiled for the park board.

The open house will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the High Prairie Arts & Science Complex, 1810 Schafer St., and from 9 a.m. to noon Friday at the district office, 400 E. Front Ave. The district is still crunching numbers on the various proposals, which will be made public at the open house.

"One option is to do nothing. Others include renovation of the current facilities; building a new outdoor pool and building a new indoor pool," said district director Steve Neu.

One alternative sure to receive plenty of attention is the offering of the Streamline Recreation Development Group, led by Dennis Kemmesat. Other members of the nonprofit organization include optometrist Brian Beattie, incoming Bismarck Mandan Chamber of Commerce President Wally Goulet and surgeon Dr. Doug Berglund.

"After the People, Parks & Places tax initiative was voted down a year ago, we looked at a number of different things," said Kemmesat, who owns and operates Frontier Precision.

"The projects themselves were good, but there was just too much, and people didn't want that. I know the project for an indoor pool has been on the community's radar screen for 25 years or more. The need for an indoor aquatic center has been identified for a long time. We basically took it upon ourselves to look for another way to do this work, so it fits within the existing park district budget, so it doesn't cost taxpayers more money."

The Hillside location was chosen because it is the most economical. It's already owned by the park district, and there is available infrastructure for a pool. Streamline spent the last six to eight months developing a plan to bring to the park board for consideration. If the facility is built by Streamline, the land still belongs to the park district.

"We were not solicited by the park district. We're a group of people involved in the swimming community and other recreational activities in the city. We felt there was another way to do this," Kemmesat said.

"There are other ways this can be done other than by us. Perhaps another group or the park district may want to do it itself, any of those are fine. Ultimately, the goal is how to get it done within budgets and a reasonable time frame. There is nothing in it for us other than the satisfaction of getting the project done," Kemmesat said.

Since Streamline is a nonprofit organization, it can't make money from the project, and that's the whole point, Kemmesat said. Making money isn't the intent, just being the instrument to help fund and get it built with the management and operation left up to the park district.

Neu points out that the VFW sports center was built in much the same manner by the Bismarck Recreational Council, another nonprofit organization formed to meet a perceived community need. The group came to the park district with its interest in funding the building separate from the park district, with the district eventually assuming ownership and management. Neu said it wasn't comparing apples to apples, but is an example of how a private organization got involved to build a facility needed by Bismarck.

Similarly, Streamline has worked out financing for a proposed $6.7 million indoor aquatic center, which will be leased to the park district. The district will operate and manage the facility and assume ownership, once the facility is paid off through the lease agreement.

Streamline would like to start on the project in August, following the closure of Hillside for the season. It will take about a year before the new pool is reopened.

There are a couple of reasons in support of Streamline's proposal, according to Kemmesat. First, construction costs are not going down, and if the park district bonds on its own, it will have to either wait for the next municipal election or hold a special election.

The next regular municipal election is a year away, and special elections cost money to run. Either way, money will be lost as the process takes time.

A second reason is the shape Hillside is in.

"It's a very, very old facility, living on borrowed time right now. It's a potential Elks pool situation, something is going to break and it's going to be gone," Kemmesat said.

"Doing it through our process as a design-build project, we can rush it through, addressing the existing need. Hillside is in tough shape, in need of either a major renovation or replacement, and it's not going to get cheaper while we wait."

By creating Streamline, the organization has been able to do a lot of the legwork, which the park district has been unable to do. The project envisioned by the People, Parks & Places initiative was budgeted at $8.5 million to $9 million. Streamline came up with a $6.7 million project, which its members believe is economical to build and functional.

Beattie said he isn't much of a swimmer, but is a lifelong resident of Bismarck and someone who's watched the community discuss the need for the project for 30 years.

"When Century was built and Bismarck High remodeled, both had plans for a pool, but both were voted down," Beattie said. "We've got to find a way to do this; it's a part of the recreation offerings that is missing."

Streamline can act much more efficiently than the park board, and the project can be brought in cheaper and quicker, Beattie said.

"One of the big questions people have is, 'Is this going to cost us more money on our property taxes?'" Beattie said. "After looking at the numbers, we'll know if it's financially feasible. We think it is. At the open house, people will be able to see for themselves there is no hidden agenda, it will all be in black and white."

The open house is for more than just looking at the pool issue, according to Neu. The district will be looking for public reaction to a number of improvements planned for Lions Park. Roads, parking, trails and even a disc golf course will be laid out at the open house.

"We'll have some resource people at both sites that people who have casual questions can ask and get clarifications," Neu said.

"Participants will have an opportunity to fill out comment cards on both occasions. Friday, we'll put all the information on our Web site and people can submit electronic comments until the evening of May 15. Our objective will be to pull all the comments and information together, review everything we have to date and bring it to the board on May 17, at which time the public will have another chance to provide input," Neu said.

Streamline is hoping to have some answer in the near future, but park board President Mark Zimmerman isn't sure what the outcome of the May 17 board meeting will be.

"I can't stress enough that Streamline's offer is just one proposal. People asked us to look at other means of financing these projects, and private donations always came to the top of the list," Zimmerman said. "This group of folks has stepped forward, and as board member John Sagsveen has said, 'We wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't look at it.'"

Whether the district will have to put together a Request For Proposal for possible projects at Hillside is another question the board will need to consider, according to Zimmerman. Research is being done on whether the process will need to be incorporated. If an RFP process is considered, Neu believes that parameters will have to be determined in line with what the board wants at the site.

The RFP would seek other proposals for Hillside Pool.

Streamline's efforts will go far beyond just being the conduit for financing of the structure, according to Kemmesat. A lot of work will be put into fundraising for the amenities that will be needed for the aquatic center.

"We're doing this for the good of the community, not for profit. If we do it or another group, or even the park district, I don't care, we just want to see it built and come to fruition," Kemmesat said.

Neu said Streamline's efforts are not uncommon, and there are numerous examples to be found around the country.

Fargo's Metro Sports Foundation, is another nonprofit organization which is building the Urban Plains Center & Tournament Facility. This is a huge, multi-use facility, primarily providing ice sheets for hockey and other skating activities.

Neu and Kemmesat believe that an indoor pool that will be available year-round will have a much greater return on investment than an outdoor swimming pool, limited to 60 days of service each year.

"I hope everybody comes out and takes a look at the concept and give it valid consideration, not just try to shoot it down on their perceptions," Kemmesat said.

In the survey taken by the park district last fall as the park board undertook its strategic planning, an indoor aquatic facility ranked number one by respondents who were asked what indoor facility was most needed in the community. Nearly 70 percent of the over 400 survey participants wanted the aquatic center.

"An aquatic center has been at the top of the list or in the top two or three since 1980," Neu said. "As far as the discussion, this is as far as it's gone in over 20 years."