The baseball/softball complex isn’t the only new facility scheduled to open this year at Linn-Mar.

A $5 million aquatic center, located on the site of the old Linn-Mar baseball field, just east of the football stadium, is running about 30 days behind schedule.

“The pool is a little bit behind because of weather,” said Linn-Mar assistant superintendent Rick Ironside. “If weather turns around and they have a nice spring and summer we hope they will be able to catch up.”

The stand-alone facility, which will be the home for the Linn-Mar girls and boys swim teams, is currently scheduled for a September opening, which would be in time for the girls swimming season. The weather delays have that date in jeopardy.

“The good part of the pool is that a lot of it is pre-manufactured,” Ironside said. “The walls are going up right now. It will go pretty quick once they get the steel on for the roof.

“I am guessing the contractor is going to catch up,” he added. “They don’t want to lag behind.”

According to Ironside, more athletics facility projects are in the works in the Linn-Mar school district.

“We’re not done,” he said. “We have infrastructure needs with our track program. We want to resurface the track at Excelsior (Middle School), which is now a crushed brick material. It doesn’t drain very well.”

The plan is to tear up the current surface and put down a hard surface similar to what is in Linn-Mar Stadium.

Other projects to come include:

• Construction of a track and a football/soccer facility at Oak Ridge Middle School just to the south of the baseball/softball complex. Ironside hopes the football/soccer field may be ready for use in the fall.
• A renovation of the Armstrong Field site into an open-area sports complex. That will see the elimination of the current track in favor of green space and a walking path around the area for public use.
• Continued development of five fields that could be used for soccer and football near Echo Hill Elementary School. Ironside said the varsity girls soccer team had hopes of using the fields this year, but last year’s drought hindered the growth of grass.