Everybody in the pool? Walnut Creek tries to make new $77 million aquatic center work for throngs of swimmers at Heather Farm Park
WALNUT CREEK — Competitive and recreational swimmers typically don’t require as much equipment as other sports. But finding enough space and time for people to actually get in the water at a municipal pool is often a challenge.
Case in point: Elected officials in Walnut Creek have spent 15 years contemplating the best way to tackle a $77 million project to upgrade the Clarke Swim Center, an aging but busy aquatic and community center that was built at Heather Farm Park in the early 1970s.
The current plan is to redesign the space to feature one family-friendly recreation pool, a 50-meter lap pool and renovated space on the surrounding pool deck — a concept Walnut Creek staffers started making headway on back in 2019.
However, after more than six hours of testimony and discussion Tuesday focused on proposed designs, the Walnut Creek City Council requested a little more time to consider the competing uses before diving head first into a final vote.
Specifically, they’re trying to balance the needs of the city’s diverse aquatic organizations — many of which have produced dozens of national champions and Olympians, notably in synchronized swimming — while still providing enough access to the tens of thousands of swimmers that enjoy a more casual dip in the pool.
Coaches of Walnut Creek’s youth swim clubs such as the Aquabears want enough lanes to host meets and avoid cuts to their already wait-listed teams, and older members of the “masters” swim club are concerned they’ll be entirely pushed out of the workouts that keep them fit; some suggested swapping the current design for one with an “all-deep” pool, even longer lanes and a floating barrier that could separate the space for different uses.
Additionally, members of the Aquanuts synchronized swimming team need enough room to throw their “flyers” in the air without worrying they’ll crash into other lanes or even the pool deck.
Accommodating all of those perspectives is a challenge, and residents were quick to add that doesn’t even include local water polo teams, SCUBA training sessions and water aerobics classes that might want time in the water.
“We’re trying to be team players, and we’re trying to be flexible, although it’s hard not to be sad knowing we’re one of the best teams in the country,” said Kim Probst, the Aquanuts’ head coach and a 2008 Olympian. “We’re creative, we’ll find a way — I just don’t know if it’ll be anything as big and as grand as what we’re used to, and that’s how we bring kids in and keep the club running.”
Shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, the Walnut Creek City Council directed staff to review training schedules to mitigate conflicts. Councilors are expected to reconvene and move forward with a plan in the coming weeks.
Councilmember Kevin Wilk said the city’s main job is ultimately to balance the needs of a successful yet niche population of elite swimmers, alongside opportunities for Walnut Creek’s larger community of young children, families and casual swimmers who currently frequent Heather Farm Park’s aquatic and community centers.
“This may be the largest project we’ve had in Walnut Creek during our lifetimes — certainly the most costly project the city’s ever undertaken,” Wilk said Tuesday. “Unlimited checks can’t be written, so we have to do as much as we can, but we still have to have an eye on the budget that goes with it.”
While scores of Walnut Creek residents debated the details of the plan, others were concerned that this much time and money was never intended to be dedicated to the pool and community center.
City Manager Dan Buckshi agreed, saying that Measure O — a half-cent sales tax sanctioned by voters in November 2022 — was largely advertised as a pot of money for the city to address public safety, crime prevention and homelessness in Walnut Creek, in addition to upgrading the pools.
He said only 17% of residents ranked improvements to Heather Farm Park’s amenities as a priority, compared to the 50%-75% of voters who supported the first three issues as their top concerns to fund. A handful of residents said they never expected Measure O funds to go toward splash pads or other recreational amenities.
But even if city officials do end up asking planners to go back to the drawing board, Buckshi warned that many of the suggested modifications to the plan could require upwards of $4 million to $6 million added to the current $77 million budget.
And the economic impact of hosting events at Heather Farm Park would not easily cover that differential.
In order to make up even $5 million, Buckshi said guests attending swim events would have to order 3.25 million meals that racked up at least $100. Even if 5,000 visitors booked a single $200 hotel stay each year, he said it would take 59 years to recoup those funds.
“I don’t think there’s a miracle here that we’re going to find in the schedule to solve everything,” Buckshi said. “But we will work to understand what the different assumptions are about why there’s this disconnect.”
City staff are tentatively set to return to the Walnut Creek City Council on March 19 to review options and services at the new facility.