JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley is one step closer to getting a new swimming pool at its secondary campus.

The school board interviewed three architects last week to possibly head up a project to give the district a new pool.

Teams from IKM, Cannon Design and Celli-Flynn Brennan Architects and Planners presented their answers to Seneca Valley's swimming pool problem.

The pool, located at the back of the intermediate high school, was built in 1964, said Tracy Vitale, school district superintendent. The cost for a new eight-lane pool in the 2015 feasibility study done by Stantec was estimated between $4.6 million and $5 million.

The three firms showed the audience of school board members, district administrators and swim team families similar options, including a standard 25-yard eight-lane pool, a 25-meter by 25-yard pool, and a version with a movable bulkhead that can create either a 25-meter or 25-yard pool.

The standard NCAA and WPIAL short course pool is 25 yards long but internationally pools are typically 25 meters long.

The architects also showed options for integrated and separate diving wells.

However, each firm had different ideas for where the new pool should be located on the expansive secondary campus.

IKM showed a design for a flashy, modern aquatics center placed prominently between the intermediate and senior high schools. A video that gave a virtual tour of the proposed facility got a positive reaction from the swim team crowd.

“What we like most about this location is the opportunity to connect these schools,” said Matt Hansen, project manager with IKM.

Cannon proposed a pool at the back of the intermediate high school off the southwest corner of the building. A maintenance building in that location would have to be relocated.

The natatorium could be attached or detached from the intermediate high school, and it could provide a controlled gateway down to the football stadium, said Michael Corb, architect with Cannon Design.

“You could connect the school and the existing natatorium with the new aquatics space and use it as a circulation area,” Corb said.

Putting the pool near the intermediate high school would allow the district to use the building's existing heating and electric, or allow the school to get a new heating plant for the school and the pool, said Jim Kosinski, with Tower Engineering, one of Cannon's design partners.

Celli-Flynn Brennan Architects and Planners showed several options, putting the pool in the same location Cannon suggested or putting it in the large parking lot closest to the stadium between the intermediate high school and middle school.

The third option had the pool splitting the two parking lots between the intermediate and middle schools and attached to the intermediate high school cafeteria.

Celli-Flynn Brennan's second option would leave all existing roads intact so as not to disrupt the homecoming parade route, said Tom Celli, architect. The third option would connect to the cafeteria and create a lobby area between the pool and school where swimmers and families could gather during meets and still watch the action in the pool.

Each architecture firm had 30 minutes to present their information, and then they fielded standardized questions from the school board.

Linda Andreassi, school district communications director, said the board will discuss the candidates and approve one to move forward with the project at one of its meetings in August.