Aquatic Center on Track to Open by Summer

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Aquatic Center on Track to Open by Summer

By Amanda Stevens
Journal Staff Writer
The summer heat should be a little more bearable next year with a dip in the pool at the new Rio Rancho Aquatic Center.
The 39,000-square-foot center, designed by Dekker/Perich/Sabatini, is on schedule to be finished in June, the city's facility coordinator Bianca Gutierrez said.
Construction began in February.
The complex will include a double flume slide, a 25-yard, eight-lane competition pool and two 1-meter boards, as well as a recreation pool with spray features, slide and three 25-yard lanes.
The competition pool will be 4 feet to 12.6 feet deep while the leisure pool will have a beach-like entry and gradually reach a depth of 5 feet.
It will also have two multi-purpose rooms that will be available for rental.
The center, which is being built adjacent to the Loma Colorado Main Library and across the street from Pulte Homes' forthcoming Loma Colorado master-planned community, cost $10.5 million. Rio Rancho voters in March 2006 overwhelmingly approved a $7 million general obligation bond earmarked for the complex. Another $3 million was donated by Pulte Homes of New Mexico.
"The product we (build) is a home, on a lot, in a community," said Matt Geisel, director of sales and marketing for Pulte Homes. "We are in the business of building communities and the opportunity of assisting in the building of the aquatic center is building a community, not just four walls in a house."
The donation to help build the aquatic center was an important step to help the entire community, Geisel said.
"We also think it helps symbolize our commitment in Rio Rancho beyond the Loma Colorado development. The aquatic center will benefit everyone in Rio Rancho, not just the residents of Loma Colorado," he said.
The center will host a variety of events ranging from instructional kayaking and scuba diving classes to water aerobics and water polo.
"It's real broad right now, Gutierrez said. "They are just ideas— we have to implement programing."
The competition pool will also be used for high school swimming competitions, Gutierrez said.