Forest Hills top pick for new La Crosse pool

Current Memorial site falls short in consultant’s recommendations.

At Forest Hills, by the road.  That’s the final recommendation from a consultant hired by the city to identify the ideal location for a pool in La Crosse to replace the closed Memorial Pool by UW-La Crosse.  

That final recommendation is in a report to be presented to the city’s park board tonight.  

Out of seven considered, the Forest Hills site, near the intersections of Losey Blvd. and La Crosse St., ranks number one in both weighted and unweighted scores in a number of areas.  

Some of the best features at the site include the availability of utilities that are already in place and the high level of both car and foot traffic.  

The consultant also recommends building a multi-use family aquatic facility with both recreational and competitive swimming areas as well as a lazy river and wave pool.

With a lazy river, construction of a pool at the Forest Hills site is pegged at $4.7 million.  Without a lazy river, a pool at the same site would be $3.8 million.

Mostly due to location issues, the current Memorial site ranked fourth for the consultant as a new pool site.