City OKs plan to design the Belmont Aquatic Center anew
Council approves funds to continue with a scaled-back redesign of the center
The Long Beach City Council moved to authorize a contract amendment for an additional $6 million with Harley Ellis Devereaux Corporation to continue with a scaled-back redesign of the Belmont Beach and Aquatics Center, picking a two-pool project for final construction.
Selecting the first of three Belmont pool options presented by City Manager Tom Modica in June would replace a more expensive design scrapped amid fears of potential funding shortfalls if Senate Bill 1137 is approved by voters. That initiative, slated for the November 2024 ballot, would ban oil wells within 3,200 feet of schools, daycare centers, businesses, parks, jails and homes starting in 2029 — which could force the city to tighten its belt because of lost oil revenues.
Now, the 9-0 council vote on Tuesday paves the way for the city to submit its latest iteration to the California Coastal Commission, the agency in charge of evaluating developments and projects along the shoreline and of issuing construction permits.
If the coastal commission approves the new aquatics project, it would replace the historic Belmont Plaza Olympic
Pool, a facility that was deemed unsafe and subsequently demolished in 2013, and its temporary pool replacement currently open to the public.
The latest contract revision raises the aquatic project's total redesign costs to $18,664,576, according to a Public Records Department report prepared for the meeting.
Although increase of costs due to inflation,
“This is the begi■■i■g of the formal desig■ process. It's ■ot the e■d of the process. This is where you ca■ take the massi■g, the co■cepts, a■d add to them a■d go through the actual tech■ical, artistic, architectural process to make sure that what is actually delivered is architecturally sig■ifica■t a■d meets the desig■ sta■dards we would like to see as a city.” — Mayor Rex Richardson
supply shortages, labor costs and other issues may still weigh in on the final aquatic center's cost, Modica estimated the projected pool facility at $74.2 million, with funding gaps of $2 to $3 million still to be filled.
From the start, city staff had recommended the selection of Option 1 due to its lower cost, additional features and flexibility of use for a variety of swimming options, team competitions and educational and therapeutic activities.
“This is the beginning of the formal design process. It's not the end of the process,” said Mayor Rex Richardson at the meeting. “This is where you can take the massing, the concepts, and add to them and go through the actual technical, artistic, architectural process to make sure that what is actually delivered is architecturally significant and meets the design standards we would like to see as a city.”
Among the features highlighted at the live presentation, the projected pool complex would have a 50-meter swimming pool with four springboards, a second pool for instruction and recreation with a vortex, two ziplines and two climbing walls, as well as an activity tower.
Seating for spectators would have
to be funded through allocations still to be identified, pending revisions and comments from the coastal commission.
If voters approve SB 1137, revenues from Long Beach's Tidelands Area Fund would be severely reduced by 2029, and the city likely would be forced to prioritize running the police department, firstresponder programs and other basic services.
That would have wiped out much money for the previous pool project tagged at $119 million, said the city manager.
Long Beach is developing plans to fully abandon oil extraction and paying to plug wells and decontaminate polluted fields by 2035. Accelerating the process six years would jeopardize operations of vital services, and shut down revenues for other projects, including the Seawalls, upgrades to the Convention Center and Belmont pier and other projects, said Modica.
Before SB 1137 came into play, the city had bet on a 17year average of oil revenues from barrels sold at $55, and even considered a bond sale for $50 million to be paid back in eight years, to fund myriad projects in addition to the pool complex.
However, the specter of less income from oil pumping arriving sooner pushed city officials to discard the previous Belmont pool plan.
“That simply was something that I was not able to recommend to you as your city manager,” said Modica. “That really made us look at the stake of this project and see what else needed to be done.”
Building the aquatic complex on the shoreline means the project has faced a roller coaster of environmental, seismic and financial challenges.
Modica said the original project forwarded to the coastal commission in August 2018 had an initial cost of $145 million, but shrank to $85 with revisions that included seismic, soil testing and sampling, new building codes and more environmental safeguards.
The latter was approved by the commission in 2021, but the added construction costs — pairing the Belmont pool project to the revisions — ballooned the bill to $130 million.
After an engineering review, the city was able to crunch construction figures a year ago to $119 million.
Modica said every three years seismic codes are upgraded, and projects awaiting construction approval have to abide to the new regulations, thus raising building costs.
The previous project underwent soil stabilization work, lighting enhancement and other upgrades that added $45 million to the costs, including $7 million to pay for the commission's improvements and $8.6 million to protect the existing pool against earthquakes or ground shifting.
Because of the shifting economic and regulatory realities the Belmont pool project has faced, the Public Works Department opened an online public comment period between June 27 and July 18, so it could gauge residents' feelings about the most recent proposal, and determine if the project had community support moving forward.
Of the 174 comments submitted, the city estimated:
• 84% were in favor of rebuilding the pool complex;
• 26% opposed rebuilding, says it wasn't a city priority, was not a good concept or was too expensive.
• 13% wanted the facility to be built without amenities; and
• 11% requested seating and shaded structures within the center.
Despite opposition from a few residents — who said the Belmont pool project is nested in a place mostly attended by wealthier residents and that is not equitable to the needs of many Blacks and Latinos — councilmembers at the dais embraced the new chapter of a project already 10 years in the making.
District 8 Councilmember Al Austin cited the increasing costs, delays and emerging issues of equity as troubles the city must grapple with, despite the expected benefits it would bring to all residents.
“To me this is a responsible approach,” said Austin before casting his vote. “This is something we can achieve and do for our community.”
District 3 Councilmember Kristina Duggen welcomed dozens of attending members of the Rocket Fish children's swimming program, and told them the city is committed with the public to replace the old pool center.
The Rocket Fish swimmers came to the meeting to voice their support for the aquatic center, and told the audience swimming brings many health benefits than such popular sports as soccer, basketball or baseball because the activity exercises the entire body.
The Belmont Aquatic and Pool Center is slated to be built next to the current Belmont Plaza Pool, located at 4320 E. Olympic Plaza. Modica said the city plans to keep the current facility open while construction of the new one takes place.
Duggen represents the district that would host the new aquatic center. The project is expected to be finished before the 2028 Olympic Games, even though Richardson said it has never been billed as an Olympic facility.
“It's been a long journey, but after a decade of work, we finally have a plan that can be dedicated to the community,” said Duggen.
District 7 Councilmember Roberto Uranga, also a California Coastal Commissioner, said the commission already supported a previous version of the pool, and will do so again.
The project, he said, will bring diversity from all over the region.
“We have a goal, and that goal is to have a pool,” said Uranga.” Let's work together to make that goal a reality.”