The Kirkland City Council has directed the parks board to search for additional locations for the Aquatic and Recreation Center (ARC), though they haven’t given up on the North Kirkland Community Center or Juanita Beach Park sites.

The council passed the resolution at their Oct. 21 meeting, which authorizes the parks board to continue looking for other locations for the ARC in the city, as well as have a design consultant continue making conceptional drawings and renderings of the ARC at Juanita Beach Park. As part of the search, they will also engage in community outreach, including a telephone survey to obtain resident feedback on the project, costs and siting preferences, according to an Oct. 7 city memo. The parks board will present the council with a report in March next year.

Right now, city staff is working with a real estate broker to locate suitable properties and find out if the owners would be willing to sell and at what price, according to the city memo.

All council members except Dave Asher voted in favor of the resolution, who felt the city should not continue looking into Juanita Beach Park as a possible site, and that the ARC needs to accommodate the space within a location the city budget, not the other way around.

“I think we’re at a situation where we’ve come to want a facility that’s not constrained at all,” he said “And we’ve built an idea of a facility that’s not constrained. Our budget or our properties don’t come that way.”

Triplett said the drawings and renderings were included in the resolutions because the council had previously requested that none of the proposed sites be removed from consideration for the time being.

“The way we’re trying to set this up is to gather more information before we talk to the public,” he said.

The parks board asked for the extension on possible sites for the ARC after Juanita residents voiced their opposition to placing it at Juanita Beach Park.

In September, Juanita residents attended a meeting with city officials to express their dissent for reasons ranging from traffic issues to the desire to keep the northern part of Juanita Beach Park clear of large structures.

The Juanita Neighborhood Association (JNA), also sent a letter out to Juanita residents explaining why they opposed both possible locations of the ARC for reasons ranging from traffic to the desire to keep the northern section of the park open space.

The other possible location for the ARC was North Kirkland Community Center, though residents have stated it is too small to accommodate the facility.

The city first proposed building a new aquatic center after a 2007 study concluded that there was a “demonstrated need for the development of indoor recreation facilities to more adequately serve the recreation demands of the Kirkland community.”

As proposed, the facility would include spaces for a number of sports, fitness, recreation, and aquatic activities, including pools for recreation, lap swimming and therapy.

The estimated cost for the facility (in 2007) was $42 million and for the moment remains unfunded, according to the city.