Aquatic center breaks ground
EL CENTRO — Construction will begin Monday for the long-awaited $15.7 million aquatic center to be located at Adams Park between Fourth and Sixth streets and is expected to be completed in August 2019.
On Wednesday, city officials gathered with its partners in the public and private sphere to break ground on the project and thank one another for their collective efforts.
“It takes all of these partners, all of these very talented people, on a project of this magnitude,” said Mayor Cheryl Viegas-Walker. “I hope that you’re all here next August when we actually get to jump in that pool.”
Once completed, the aquatic center will include an eight-lane competitive pool with shaded bleachers and scoreboard, a 75foot by 27-foot warm-up pool, 1,600 square foot kids’ wading pool with play equipment, a “lazy river,” a 4,350 square foot administrative and event building, as well as a storage area, to name just some features.
The ambitious project will put the finishing touches on a large swath of land the city has recently redeveloped into public recreational space along Adams Avenue that includes the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sports Pavilion, the Conrad Harrison Youth Center and Sidewinder Skatepark.
Future plans also call for a water slide to be built at the center’s easternmost section, where Adams and Park avenues converge.
The 3.5 acre project will also result in the removal of Fifth Street between Park and Adams avenues.
The aquatic center will not only provide additional recreational activities for the community and opportunities for competitive swimming, but also was built with an eye toward future growth in the region, Viegas-Walker said.
The concept for such an aquatic center had initially been discussed following the closure of
The Plunge in 2004. Its closure had been prompted by costly improvements that included plumbing issues, a need to have the pool refurbished and the poor condition of fiberglass infrastructure at the popular park.
“It was a much-loved facility,” Viegas-Walker said, “but the old pool was just not going to be suitable and cost a boatload of money for us to fix it.”
The aquatic center was made possible with an $11 million bond issue made by the city’s Financing Authority in April 2011.
Additional monies are being provided by Local Transportation Authority funds.
PHOTO “The aquatic center is an example of how local and state government can come together and do great things. Yolanda Apalategui, Hueso’s deputy chief of staff
The bond monies had been tied up by the state following the statewide dissolution of redevelopment agencies and a ruling by the state’s Department of Finance, but was made available by the state in September 2014 with the assistance of Sen. Ben Hueso.
“The aquatic center is an example of how local and state government can come together and do great things,” Yolanda Apalategui, Hueso’s deputy chief of staff, said during the groundbreaking ceremony.
Since the closure of The Plunge, the city has relied on partnerships with the Central Union High School District to continue to provide its summer swimming programs.
This summer, the city will partner with Imperial Valley College to host the program at the college campus.
The city has also benefited in recent years from its partnership with the American Red Cross’ Aquatics Centennial Campaign, which has provided more than 650 scholarships for local youth and adults to learn to swim.
Further adding to that figure are 476 local scholarships provided by the LA84 Foundation since 2016, and another 75 that came from the USA Swimming Association since 2017.
The community’s involvement is also credited with helping select the aquatic center’s features, as a result of community meetings, public presentations and a survey the city had conducted in connection to the project.
“This is truly a publicly driven project,” said City Manager Marcela Piedra.