Huntsville, Alabama will renovate and upgrade its Brahan Spring Park Natatorium, adding a second 50-meter pool.
The new Olympic-distance pool will be 7 feet deep all the way across, and will be surrounded with seating for 1200 spectators, which should give it the capability to host some major competitions. Parks and Recreation Director Steve Ivey said the city is aiming for exactly that.
“This will be a premiere facility,” Ivey told AL.com. “We’re going after national meets when we get the new pool open.”
AL.com has a gallery of photos from the current facility, as well as renderings of what the new facility will look like. You can view the gallery and the AL.com story here.
The project will reportedly cost $20 million, and also includes a therapeutic pool for people with arthritis or other health conditions.
Construction on the therapeutic pool will likely be wrapped up by late next year, as officials hope to open that pool in December of 2016. It’ll be a slightly longer wait for the Olympic-sized pool, though, which is expected to open in the summer of 2017.
The AL.com piece notes that the current facility is a hub for a huge number of young swimmers and swim clubs. AL.com reports that more than 67,000 swimmers used the natatorium last year, with well over half that number coming in as part of a swim club.
Great news! Two Olympians (Margaret Hoelzer & John Piersma) were both age groupers there, maybe a couple more will come up through the ranks due this project.