“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” – Bruce Lee
2020 has proven to be anything but normal. It has been a year of unprecedented events and change, as each passing day seems to present a new challenge. Our dynamic Aquatics Group located in Kansas City, Missouri, have not let the uncertainty of 2020 diminish their focus. Instead, they have become like the water that fills the pools they design – flexible to fit into unique situations.
COVID-19 has had numerous impacts on society and how we interact. It’s pushed and pulled communities but, at the end of the day, it has forced us to succeed in the use of more digital communication. The Lamp Rynearson Aquatics Group have used this unique year to expand the team’s presence in the virtual realm. You can find our team hosting webinars for clients and providing education to professional groups. Our passion for pools has propelled us forward to share our community changing aquatics projects, provide aquatics education, and learn about communities and their future needs.
Our team hasn’t stopped at webinars alone! They’ve also presented virtual town halls, online surveys, and interactive presentations where live polling takes place. During the summer, the team was hired by the City of Valley Center, Kansas to assist with planning a new recreational swimming center and swimming pool. Our team worked with City staff and the steering committee to determine how the new facilities needed to evolve to meet the community’s needs. Additionally, the community was invited to participate in an online survey and webinars. This critical research and community engagement leads to a conceptual master plan that will make Valley Center a Kansas destination!
And the digital process has expanded into the construction phase of our work. The bid process is likewise happening virtually. For our Aquatics Group, three out of their four recent projects in Kansas have been bid virtually. Like the water that shapes and forms to swimming pool walls – our team has shape shifted with changing processes. 2020 is a complex year; however, it’s been a year of finding new, positive and workable methods.
The waters of many aquatic centers may be still (for now); however, the Aquatics Group is fervently dedicated to designing state-of-the-art facilities for when we can return to the pools we know and love. Projects such as Owasso, Oklahoma Aquatic Center (Trident Swim Club) and Marshfield, Missouri Aquatic Center are shining examples of contemporary complexes designed by Lamp Rynearson.
The Trident Swim Club and Wave Swim Academy chose Lamp Rynearson to design an aquatic facility that compliments their exceptional achievements in the water. This swim club is a perennial powerhouse within the state region, and the swim academy provides important opportunities to learn critical lifesaving water skills. This multi-functional indoor facility features innovative technology outside the norm: mounted camera lights, a floor lighting system, and flat screen televisions.
The City of Marshfield has its own innovations to share. Our team designed their community a state-of-the-art swimming pool that is fun for all ages. Guests spend all day playing on a custom structure, floating in the current channel, navigating the floatable walk and riding the water slides. The City took the facility to the next level by installing a custom LED light system. The changing colors illuminate both the pool and deck sprays, making this facility pop at night! The new aquatics center was designed to embrace all age groups in the community. Whether your interest is water aerobics, competitive swimming or swirling around in current channel there is something for everybody.
With many facilities having only silent still water and others taking extra precautions, and facing uncertainty – the 2020 summer swim season is unlike any we have ever experienced. Skies may appear dark now; however, we are confident the clouds will part. And when they do, the sun will shine upon familiar pool waters as children shout joyfully, splashing and playing – their voices carrying across the warm summer air. The Lamp Rynearson Aquatics Group is here for you now and into the future to help create the community changing project of your dreams.