Work on a 50,000-square-foot aquatics center on the grounds of the Bismarck State College campus will proceed through the winter months.

"Site work began in September. We are working on the foundation. We had to do a redesign of the foundation because of the soil type there," Dennis Kemmesat, president of the Streamline Foundation, said on Friday afternoon.

"The pier systems are poured. Work on the foundation is going on now. We'll start pouring on those next week," he said.

Its next phase will be erecting the steel structure and a precast concrete wall. "Once that is enclosed, we can start construction of the pool," Kemmesat said.

He said the expansive, corrosive clay on the BSC campus did not fit with the original foundation plans. "We had to install a pier system with a deep foundation," he said.

The Streamline Foundation holds a nonprofit 501(c)3 status to complete Bismarck recreation-related projects. It is financing the project. The Bismarck Park District will shoulder operating costs when the structure is completed.

The Burleigh County Commission recently issued $5.5 million in Municipal Industrial Development Act revenue bonds for the project on behalf of Streamline, but the county itself will not provide funding for the swimming pool facility. Streamline met MIDA financing criteria.

Kemmesat said the redesign of the foundation increased the project's cost by $400,000, from $8.7 million to $9.2 million.

Streamline will request $4 million more in MIDA bonds in 2009.

The county has a cap of issuing $10 million in MIDA bonds per year, and some of the money was already committed for the year. The agreement with the county states that Streamline may obtain up to $9.5 million in MIDA bonds to fund the project.

Creative Construction of Bismarck is the project's main contractor. The Bismarck Park District has partnered in the facility by providing excavation work there.

Kemmesat said the work is behind by at least three weeks because of challenges the crews experienced in leveling and digging the hillside property.

The park district also received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Forestery Service (dispersed through the North Dakota Forestry Service) to install and implement a biomass heating device for the building. It will burn some 2,000 tons of excess wood chips from the Bismarck landfill.

"It will heat the pool, the hot water and domestic water," said Bismarck Parks and Recreation Director Steve Neu.

BSC's assisstance in the project consists of providing the property on which it is being constructed and student fees to assist with operation costs.

The structure will feature an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a diving area, a lesson pool area and a 4,000-foot aerobics area. It will be used for recreational purposes for the community and students at BSC.

Kemmesat could not give a timeline for when the building will be enclosed, but said the entire project is slated for completion in the fall of 2009.

Kemmesat estimated that about one-fifth of the needed funds to pay off the bonds have been pledged by private individuals, businesses and organizations.

He said a large-scale fundraising campaign is pending in 2009.

Kemmesat said it is hoped the campaign will cover Phase II of the project, which is gym space for the facility.

Neu said staffing for the facility has been budgeted for fiscal year 2009. The hiring process will begin in the coming months before the facility is completed.

(Reach reporter LeAnn Eckroth at 250-8264 or leann.eckroth.) @bismarcktribune.com