New Caney ISD expects to break ground on its new 400-seat aquatic center in August. The facility will be located on the north side of the field house at Texan Drive Stadium.

The aquatic center will help the district prepare for its third high school and host regional University Interscholastic League meets. It features a 25-yard competition pool and concession stands as well as locker rooms, a hospitality area and athletic administrative offices.

“It’s important because we currently have two high schools, and we only have one swimming pool,” NCISD Executive Operations Director Jim Grant said. “So they’re both having to use the same high school swimming pool. We’re having to bus them back and forth. We feel like as the district grows—if we add another high school or possibly even a fourth—this will give us a facility that will be able to accommodate all of the kids [who] want to swim.”

"This will give us a facility that will be able to accommodate all of the kids [who] want to swim.”

– Jim Grant, NCISD executive operations director

The district solicited requests for proposals in April. The project was budgeted at $13.8 million; however, a third-party estimate projects a $15 million construction cost, said Laura Sachtleben, senior associate and project director for Stantec, the architecture firm that designed the aquatic center. The 13-month construction project could be completed in summer 2017, Sachtleben said.

In addition to raised spectator seating and 15 swimming lanes, which allow two high school teams to practice at one time, the facility will feature several amenities that will make it an attractive aquatic center, she said.

“There will be a courtyard created,” Sachtleben said. “When you walk in, there’s kind of a gathering space—a lot of people come to those meets, and there’s not always enough room inside. Having that courtyard space is a way to accommodate those people. There is a glass wall at the end of the pool to help maintain visibility.”

Once the center is constructed, the district will tear down its existing pool at New Caney High School and build a fine arts center, Grant said.

“The whole plan when we went to the Valley Ranch area was to build an athletic complex that fits into the community that was there and meets the needs of the people of the growing community,” he said.

Texan Drive Stadium

21360 Valley Ranch Parkway, Porter 281-577-8600 www.newcaneyisd.org