LEWISTON – Basketball court construction at Kennedy Park won’t keep the swimming pool from opening on time, according to city officials.

The city will move a construction trailer into the park, between the pool and the playground, by June 11. The trailer will serve as offices and changing rooms for the swimming pool.

“We need time to get it cleaned and set up properly and get our staff used to using it,” said Parks and Recreation Director Maggie Chisholm.

The swimming pool is scheduled to open on June 20, she said.

New basketball courts will open soon afterward. A new splash pad fountain, replacing the old wading pool, should be ready for use in about six weeks.

“Setting a time line is always a problem, because we have weather issues that can slow us down,” said Public Buildings Director Mike Paradis. Crews from the city’s highway department are doing the Kennedy Park work.

The project continues work that began last summer with a new skateboard park. A group of skateboarders, their parents and local businesses paid for it and the city set aside the southwest corner of the park for the skaters.

The city agreed to move the basketball courts to the other side of the swimming pool. Chisholm hopes the trailer will be temporary. City staff hope to build a new bath house before the summer of 2008.

“We don’t want a Taj Mahal or anything, just the minimum for what the state requires as far as changing rooms,” Chisholm said.