Submitted by Friends of the Lopez Island Pool.

With the recent selection of construction project manager/owner’s representative, Dana Warren of Warren Company, Friends of Lopez Island Pool is finalizing plans for building the Swim Center. Warren will oversee the pre-construction and construction phases to ensure this major community project stays on time and on budget.

Warren’s expertise in commercial project management includes building recreational facilities and private schools in the greater Seattle area. He also has experience with capital campaigns, which makes working with nonprofit FLIP a natural pairing. He’ll collaborate with respected Lopez architects Lois and Bob Wardell, who have been ardent Swim Center supporters. The Wardells’ architectural and engineering focus for the Center was keeping operation and maintenance costs low, ensuring that the Swim Center remains financially and environmentally sustainable over the long term.

“We’re proud to be at this pivotal moment and collaborating with Dana to move the project forward,” Lois Wardell, principal at Wardell Architects, said. “With his expertise, we’ll be well-positioned to get the construction phase of the project launched.”

FLIP has made significant progress on the project and fundraising. From the project side, FLIP is essentially shovel-ready! FLIP has received preliminary approval for 11 of the 13 reviews required for the San Juan County Building Permit to be issued. The Water System review is pending final state approval for the Group A water system, which will be shared with the School District and neighbors — a win-win for the community. FLIP has already secured a donation of 2.5 acres for the site, and has completed a site feasibility study and all project planning, facility design, and development. Construction plans, as well as mechanical and electrical engineering, are finished, and the site preparation is complete.

Thanks to generous donors, FLIP is now 73% toward its capital campaign goal, with more than $5.84 million raised/committed. The Lopez community has driven this effort, with more than two-thirds of FLIP’s private funding coming from local Lopez addresses. This show of local support has already inspired nearly $2 million in state and county funding for the project and is stimulating new major gifts from families and foundations to help close the campaign.

Once funding and the building permits are secured, plans are to break ground as soon as spring 2022.

“It’s all coming together,” FLIP Executive Director Anne Marie MacPherson said, “with the building permit expected this winter. We aren’t done fundraising, and with project progress, a solid five-year business plan showing operational sustainability, and more than 1,000 donors from our community in place, major donors are being inspired to bring in the final dollars needed to conclude the campaign! This is so exciting!”