Title
Review and Recommend to City Council Approval of a City Aquatic Center and Location
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Recreation and Park Commission
From: Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Re: Review and Recommend to City Council Approval of a City Aquatic Center and Location
BACKGROUND
As part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 - 23 budget, City Council allocated up to $7.5 million, to fund 50% equal cost sharing with the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) to rebuild the Emma Hood Swim Center at Alameda High School. The project has begun and City staff are working closely with District staff. The District is currently conducting necessary investigative work such as soil sampling, which will inform the design options. There will be a full public input process including outreach to school district constituents and the broader Alameda community. That input process is anticipated to start later this fall.
In the FY 2019-20 budget, City Council authorized funding for the City Aquatic Center conceptual design. Staff engaged ELS Architecture + Design and in January and February 2020, the City held community workshops and solicited feedback on pool design options, which was incorporated into the final conceptual design included with this report (Exhibit 2).
On August 13, 2020, the Recreation and Parks Commission recommended a conceptual design to City Council that included a natatorium (indoor pool).
Due to the pandemic, staff determined this project should be paused. There was no funding source for the project and there were other City Council priorities, including a response to the impacts of the pandemic and addressing homelessness and affordable housing. However, throughout the pandemic, interest and participation in aquatic programs has significantly grown. AUSD aquatic teams have grown and requiring more time at the two high school pools and the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department (ARPD) is now providing year-ro...
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