Inspector to oversee work

Portland Pool is gone and the early stages of construction on Portland Water Park are underway. As the project continues, an inspector will be on site to supervise.
Portland Park Board voted Tuesday to have HWC Engineering, which designed the facility, hire an inspector at a cost not to exceed $50,000. The option of hiring the inspector was an alternate option in the original contract.
The inspector will be on site to oversee general contractor RLTurner of Zionsville and the subcontractors on the $3.21 million project.
Portland Water Park, which is being funded at 68.4 percent by the city with the remaining money from private donations, will replace Portland Pool. It was built in 1960 and had a variety of maintenance problems, including leaks that amounted to about 1 million gallons of water each summer.
The new facility, most of which will be 42 inches deep, will include a lap/competition pool, lily pad walk, slide, dump bucket, lazy river and zero entry.
Construction on the project began with a groundbreaker April 22. Portland Pool has been demolished, and a base has been poured for the building that will house restrooms and a concession stand.
Crews are currently working on compacting the soil in the area where the pool will be built. Plumbing work is expected to begin soon.
Also Tuesday, park board members Rod Ashman, Shauna Runkle, Donald Gillespie and Kristi Betts, with Holly Tonak absent, approved spending up to $1,200 on a used garden tractor for Runkle-Miller Field at Portland Memorial Park.
Members also got an update on the “bark park” at Hudson Family Park. There is now a separate area fenced in for small dogs.