The 22,570 square feet of water at the Elk Grove Aquatic Center provides a little something for every water lover.

SERVICES PROVIDED

 

THE CHALLENGE

The City of Elk Grove needed a new aquatic center to beat the heat. Neither of Elk Grove’s public high schools have swimming pools and residents have expressed feeling underserved for the past decade, but the original plans came in overbudget not only from a construction standpoint, but from an operations one as well. Our team worked with the City to create an aquatic center they could afford to not only build, but operate for years to come.

 

The Solution

Aquatic Design Group provided design and engineering services for a new 50-meter competition pool with stadium seating, a 6-lane shallow instruction / fitness swimming pool, and a recreation pool with water play features, lazy river current channel, and waterslide reception area including two 28-foot tall flume waterslides.

The 50-meter competition pool is one of only three in the region, and features eighteen 25-yard lanes and eight 50-meter lanes. It also has pool depths that range from 3’-6” to 13’-3”, which support two 1-meter and two 3-meter springboard diving boards. The instructional / fitness pool features six 25-yard lanes, pool depths that range from 3’-6” to 5’-0” and stairs that run the entire length of the pool. The recreational pool features a zero-depth beach entry, six unique interactive water play features, a lazy river current channel, a water slide receiving area with spacious stairs and two 28-foot water slides. The two-slide complex features one open-flume body slide and one closed-flume body slide.

 

The Results

The center had a successful opening season in 2019, but faced COVID-19 related closures and reduced capacity regulations in 2020. Regardless, residents have been delighted by the new center. The pools and water slides have fun, themed names: Treasure Island (recreational pool), Castaway Cove (instructional / fitness pool), Big Kahuna (competition pool), Coconut Cannon (closed-flume slide) and Jungle Falls (open-flume slide).

Overall, the new aquatic center has been a huge success for the community and is now surrounded by The Preserve, an outdoor recreation area including a network of trails, wetland area overlooks, a climbing playground and an outdoor exercise area, creating a true regional attraction and making the area more attractive to further development.

Both the Elk Grove Piranhas Swim Team and the Elk Grove Aquatics Club as well as the City’s public high schools use the new swimming facility daily, and Elk Grove hosted it’s first-ever USA swimming-certified meet in June 2019. The facility can be rented for private groups, and Elk Grove regularly hosts family fun nights and other community events. Parents are excited to have a place for their children to learn to swim and other water safety and life-saving skills.

 

AWARDS

This project has been recognized by several organizations, including the following awards:

 

project data

Owner: City of Elk Grove, CA

Client: ELS Architects

Specialty Pool Contractor: Condor, Inc.

Date Completed: Spring 2019

Aquatics Budget: $4,600,000