Construction of aquatic center is proceeding on schedule
EL CENTRO — The midway point is quickly approaching on the construction of the $15.7 million aquatic center located at Adams Park, with completion still on track for August 2019.
The city on Monday posted photos to its social media pages showing the progress of the project, including shots of the bottom of the competitive pool being poured with concrete and the forming of the instruction pool using rebar.
Meanwhile, the city staff has been consulting with aquatic center designers and consultants Counsilman-Hunsacker, which is “researching and preparing recommended fee schedules, a business plan and an operations plan for the facility,” according to Stacy Cox, with the city’s economic development division.
“Construction is progressing on schedule at the job site. The contractor is currently working on the competition pool and instructional pool. Preliminary work has also been done on the activity pool and continuous river,” Cox wrote in an email.
The project is being built by Erickson-Hall Construction of Escondido, which has an office in Imperial.
In June, city officials broke ground on the aquatic center project, which is a final piece of a puzzle that has included the redevelopment of a large portion of Adams Park between Eighth Street and Sixth Street into a public recreation hub. The aquatic center will join the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sports Pavilion, the Conrad Harrison Youth Center and Sidewinder Skatepark.
Once completed, the aquatic center will include an eightlane competitive pool with shaded bleachers and scoreboard, a 75-foot-by-27-foot warm-up pool, 1,600-squarefoot kids’ wading pool with play equipment, a continuous or “lazy river,” a 4,350-square-foot administrative and event building, as well as a storage area.
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 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.
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.