Located on 23,000 square feet, the roughly $10.3 million facility houses a 518,000 gallon temperature-controlled pool with several starting blocks, three diving boards and a bulkhead which allows a platform in the middle of the pool to move in order to accommodate different events or be used in different directions.
The pool will be available for the Westlake High School swimming and diving program, a possible middle school expansion swim program, potential water polo and other activities and community use for pool time, swim lessons and swim club rentals, according to a press release from the district. There also is a locker room with full showers and a water extractor for wet swimsuits, a public-use restroom and office in the building.
Alison Soelter, head girls swimming and diving coach, said she has already received messages from other schools wishing to compete at the pool. The swim meet schedule is already full with teams wishing to come compete at EISD, Soelter said.
“Everyone’s very excited about this pool and the quality of the pool,” Soelter said. “We have some of the top competitors and new teams that we haven’t raced asking to come down. We’re going to have some fun opportunities to see some really great teams. The high school swim community is very excited.”
The 25-meter, eight-lane stretch pool is a Myrtha pool which uses a bolted stainless steel wall system, a PVC liner and concrete base to increase the longevity of a pool’s lifetime and maintenance. This type of pool is now considered the standard in athletic settings and is the same type often used during Olympic trials, Soelter said.
The facility has seven glass garage doors on each side of the structure that can be opened to permit airflow during summer and allow for more event space. Though the facility can set up bleachers on the sidelines for small events, the space is not fit for larger events and was built primarily as a training and work space, Chief Operations Officer Jeremy Trimble said.
“There are a lot of decisions that had to be made. This is not just traditional construction, Trimble said. “It’s very specialized to how we’re using the building and what the environment is going to be like.
Students on the swimming and diving team previously used Rollingwood Pool year-round for training. Though the Rollingwood Pool is heated, Trimble said this still left swimmers to practice in 26 degree weather outside during winter. The community has been asking for this pool for two decades, and following years of planning and discussion, the project finally got off the ground in May 2019 with a bond election only to be hindered by the pandemic, Trimble said.
“Sadly as seniors we didn’t get to use it for the high school season, but a few of us are going to be able to use it for [Whitecaps of Westlake] because we are on that team so we will be able to use it before we head off,” said senior Dietrich Hagenau, boys swimming and diving vice captain.
Whitecaps of Westlake is a competitive swim program led by three-time olympic gold medalist Ian Crocker that will be based out of the Aquatics Center. Dietrich and senior Lily Bachl, captain of the girls swimming and diving team, are part of the program.
WAQUA LLC was approved by the EISD board of trustees in June 2020 to oversee operations and management of the center. WAQUA LLC also operates the Westlake Athletic Community Center, adjacent to the Aquatics Center site. This facility also provides access for Westlake High School student groups including several sports, band activities and the role model program Teen Teaching. The initial contract term for the Aquatics Center is five years with the ability to renew for up to four additional five-year terms. The contract allows for profit sharing as well as cost-sharing for certain construction or design upgrades, the press release said.
“I think it’s nice because diving is kind of an obscure sport, so having something like this in Westlake will definitely pull more people to it,” said Sophie Slayden, girls swimming and diving co-captain.
New construction and certain infrastructure can only be funded with bonds, and the 2019 bond was passed with a promise that the district would not absorb any operational costs, the press release said. Under the bond, for every $1 received, EISD keeps 100% compared to $0.39 if the project were to come out of Maintenance & Operations funding, which goes toward day-to-day expenses such as teacher salaries.
The May 2019 bond totaled $80 million and also included new spaces for Westlake High School wrestling programs and expanded space for robotics and engineering programs alongside several other district projects, the press release said.
