History of Pools in Visalia
The first public pool constructed in Visalia was the Natatorium, built in 1896 near the northeast corner of Main and Santa Fe (known as East Street in those days). It was 85 feet long, 30 feet wide and was fed with water from the city’s adjacent Water Works Plant. It included two springboard and a suspended trapeze from the rafters.
History of Pools in Visalia
Visalia’s second pool, called the Plunge, was constructed in 1939 and was located on the southeast corner of Acequia and Bridge, near the Convention Center.
Next came Recreation Park built in 1950s and demolished in 1986, Mt. Whitney pool built in 1958 and remodeled in 2000, Redwood pool built in 1987, Golden West built 1985 (warm-up pool for the 1984 Olympics) and remodeled in 1990, and finally, El Diamonte built in 2007.
Pool Usage
Proposed pool complex – competition pool (50 meters by 25 yards) and zero-entry splash pool
Competition pool - 20 swim lanes and shallowsection for water aerobics, swim lessons, and handicapped persons
Zero-entry splash pool which is designed for young children, swim lessons and handicapped children
Entering the pool complex visitors will view the Aquatic Hall of Fame wall and the Records wall.
Aquatic Hall of Fame
Records Wall
Exterior Appearance
Here is some specific reasons why Visalia could use its own aquatic complex. • Growing Demand for Pool Time
• Longer School Year/Less Pool Time for City
• COS No Longer Available for General Use
• General community use for pool time is increasing including uses such as public swimming, swim lessons, water safety classes, competitive swimming and water polo, masters swimming, special Olympics, triathlons, diving competitions, senior Olympics and water aerobics
Pool Cost
Pool Maintenance Costs
Potential Pool Location – Oak and Burke
GWHS
MWHS
MWHS
RHS
Proposed Pool Site
Potential Pool Location – Oak and Burke
Imagine U
New Pool Site
New Accessible Park
VECC
Police Station
Civic Center
Should any of Visalia’s pools “go down” it always becomes a significant burden on the school whose pool is down and the school that needs to “share” their pool.
Redundancy has its benefits!
The City of Visalia realizes that its economic future is somewhat tied to attracting people to athletic and recreational events from outside of Visalia. These “folks” generate sales and bed taxes for the city.
Recent successful events that have attracted folks from outside the City include Visalia’s Senior Games, End of the Trail half-marathon, local soccer tournaments, and Cal Ripken Baseball World Series.
Could an Aquatic Facility bring people to Visalia?
Here are some events that could be attracted to Visalia’s new Aquatic Facility.
Masters Swim Meets
Age-Group Swim Meets
State championship swim meets – high school and junior college Water polo tournaments – high school, Masters and junior college Triathlons
How do you finance an aquatic facility?
A combination of funding sources works best. These include:
City park and recreation impact fees
Financial participation with school district (and maybe CVC and/or COS) Community donations - $500,000 from planned fund-raising Naming–rights – California Water Service ($500,000 over 10 years) Land sales – proceeds from sale of city-owned acreage at Riggin and Akers Grants – handicapped, disadvantaged youth, senior
How do you finance the daily maintenance, staffing and upkeep of an aquatic facility? A combination of funding sources works best. These include:
Entrance fees from public swim days.
Rental fees from swim, water polo and diving teams
Rental revenue from large aquatic events – swim meets, triathlons and parties. $1.00 surcharge on all participants to create endowment for maintenance and capital replacement.
Conclusions
Quality of Life means different things to different people. The health, safety and recreational opportunities for Visalia’s young and old certainly adds to Visalia’s Quality of Life.
Questions and/or Comments?