NATCHEZ — The Natchez-Adams County Recreation Commission is in the process of negotiating for construction drawings for its community pool project, a first step that will help determine the actual cost of the project.

The commission currently has an architect’s estimate of $1.2 million for the pool project, which also includes a shower and bathroom facility, press box and two multi-purpose fields.

But that estimate is just that, an estimate, NACRC Chair Tate Hobdy said, and the commission will be able to better pin down what the pool will cost once it receives bids for the project.

To get bids for the construction, however, the commission needs construction documents. While the commission has received a general estimate for the cost of the project, a quote for how much it would cost to draft the construction documents themselves came back higher than recreation commission members expected.

“We may have to put that out to bid,” Hobdy said. “We got one (architectural) group to estimate it, but the first estimate we got was more than we thought they should be.”

Hobdy said he did not want to release the number the commission had received because it would then taint the bid process, allowing other firms to unfairly undercut the number already out there.

“We do want to move as fast as we can on this, but we want to do it right,” he said.

The recreation commission has signed the contract that will allow the Metropolitan YMCAs of Mississippi to operate the pool and the broader Natchez-Adams County recreation program, Hobdy said.

While Hobdy said he does not know if the YMCA board has executed their side of the contract, he knows the liaison for the Natchez area has already been working to set up programs for the summer and fall, including working with community partner organizations.

“They are becoming active in the community as we speak,” Hobdy said.

Casey Custer, the designated liaison for the YMCA for Natchez, could not be reached for comment Thursday, Friday or Saturday.