Contact UsBettendorf and the YMCA Announce New Timeline for The Landing
FEBRUARY 12, 2024 - The City of Bettendorf and the YMCA of the Iowa Mississippi Valley are announcing a new timeline for The Landing, which results in the opening of a permanent outdoor ice rink in November 2024 followed by a state-of-the-art aquatic facility in 2025.
“We are committed to building these two premier amenities for the community in a safe, efficient, and cost-effective environment,” said Decker Ploehn, City Administrator. “We are experiencing some challenges that are out of our control, but we believe this new timeline is the best way forward to fulfill our commitment.”
Due to significant delays in the state permitting process as well as supply chain issues, the initial goal of opening one part of the aquatic facility – the 12,500-square-foot activity pool – in May 2024 needs to be pushed back to mid-July 2024, which is too late to start a safe pool season:
“We are looking forward to opening the aquatic side of The Landing, but unfortunately the timing is not looking good for the summer of 2024,” said Brad Martell, CEO of the YMCA of the Iowa Mississippi Valley, which will operate the aquatic facility. “We will need 35 lifeguards to staff it and trying to find this many lifeguards at the end of the season would be difficult. We all feel it would be better to wait until 2025 when everything is completed.”
“Activating a pool doesn’t happen overnight,” added Ploehn. “Even if construction is finished in mid-July, the state needs to test the pool which could take days or even weeks.”
In response to these challenges and concerns, the City, the YMCA of the Iowa Mississippi Valley, and General Constructors, Inc. (GCI) have decided to keep construction going through 2024. This will allow crews to complete the remainder of the aquatic facility – a three-story-high slide tower with three slides, a 430-foot-long lazy river, and a 3,700-square-foot splash pad – by May 2025 as well as the entire ice rink by November 2024.
“While we understand this means there will be another season without a community pool in Bettendorf, we are very excited that the ice rink will be completed earlier than expected,” said Ploehn. “We’re very pleased with RDG’s design, GCI’s progress, and - rest assured – the City is planning a wonderful grand opening of this brand-new ice amenity and, together with the Y, will hold another one for our brand-new water amenity only six months later.”
You can find updates, designs, a livestream of the construction site, and more here.