NATCHEZ — The Natchez-Adams County Recreation Commission is seeking bids for the sitework on the new recreation facility near Natchez High School, but the first round of bids won’t include the proposed swimming pool.

The commission voted to advertise for bids for two multi-purpose fields after architect Johnny Waycaster — who the commission has contracted with to develop construction documents for the project — told them the fields will likely cost $200,000 to develop. Engineer Hayden Kaiser III told the commission that in a best-case scenario, the fields could be ready for play by the second week of September.

But Waycaster also told the commission that they have “a lot of hard choices based on numbers” when it comes to the pool and pavilion they’ve been mandated to build as part of the interlocal agreement that gives the commission authority to operate.

Waycaster has prepared some preliminary designs based on his interpretations of the commission’s master plan for the site, but said he is budgeting his time based on their numbers and did not want to make plans they could not use.

The commission has approximately $1.2 million allocated for the first phase of the project, but Waycaster said based on his early estimate the pool and pavilion — which includes bathrooms, changing areas, concessions and storage — could cost approximately $1.1 million, and a proposed removable dome to go over the pool could cost between $80,000 and $90,000.

The average cost nationally for similar competition-sized pools is $850,000, according to the U.S. Aquatic Association, Waycaster said.

“Our costs here are significantly lower, but that’s still the better part of a half-million dollars,” he said. “It could be $600,000.”

The concrete block pavilion buildings could cost approximately $400,000, he said.

Recreation Commission Chair Tate Hobdy said the commission could get some plans and then reduce costs by removing some things one at a time, a technique Waycaster referred to as “value engineering.”

“We can do a lot of cutting,” he said.

“We’re figuring out costs based on real-time priorities.”

The commission can design cheap with the capacity to add later, or design for what it wants and then reduce plans as needed, Waycaster said.

The commission members ultimately told Waycaster to continue gathering estimates from different aquatics experts to try to get a more firm estimate before moving forward with pool design plans.