DMR dives into school's community pool design

Real Estate Weekly, March 19, 2008

The Lyndhurst pool building, an addition to the existing Lyndhurst High School, is scheduled to go out for bid in March with construction expected to begin this May. The $4 million project was designed by Hasbrouck Heights-based DMR Architects.

DMR Architects designed the pool building to fit in with the school and township's requirements of a community space for both students and adults, offering a year-round fitness facility that will host school swim meets, neighboring adult swim clubs and water aerobics classes. The pool itself will meet size requirements for competitive events, featuring six, 25-yard lanes.

DMR Architects was charged with rerouting the current traffic pattern at the school and designing an additional 40 parking spaces to accommodate pool visitors. Two entrances are planned for the building--one for the general public and another for school students that will connect through a double door to an existing school corridor. The new entrance provides an area for drop off and pick ups at the pool building

The pool building boasts bleacher seating for 180 spectators with separate bathrooms in the bleacher area that greatly reduce the chances of slips and falls from having to walk across the pool deck. Competitive and recreational swimmers will have use of dedicated locker rooms and changing facilities apart from the general rest rooms.

The $4 million pool project is being funded through Lyndhurst Township with the Lyndhurst School District repaying the township at a rate of $500,000 per year. The district estimates it will save at least that much money annually by reintroducing special education students into the district, instead of sending them to a program outside of the district.

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