Happy Holidays from WCAF!
Happy Holidays from the Walnut Creek Aquatic Foundation! Even with the winter weather, the pools at Heather Farm continue to be utilized by hundreds of people every day. The need for a new, state-of-the-art aquatic facility is more critical than ever, and we appreciate your support as the work continues to ensure that a facility is constructed which meets the needs of our robust aquatic community.
As always, we want to keep you informed about the work the Foundation is doing.
This Fall, the City presented a conceptual design to community members, and there was tremendous engagement from our aquatic community. We heard from many of you that the proposed design was too small to sustain programming or to host large aquatic competitions. We shared your feedback with City leaders and the design team.
In mid-November, the design team presented a schematic design of the proposed facility during a stakeholder meeting with representatives from the Walnut Creek Aquatic Foundation, Walnut Creek Aquabears, Walnut Creek Aquanuts, Walnut Creek Masters, and the Walnut Creek Swim Club. Aquatic representatives gave feedback regarding the schematic design, including a detailed compilation of specific needs and concerns. The design team indicated that they will be incorporating our feedback and that they anticipate presenting an updated design to the City Council in February.
Since our stakeholder meeting, we have continued to advocate on your behalf and to remind our community and city leaders about the core tenets of our Memorandum of Understanding in which the Foundation agreed to fundraise $3 million for the new Aquatic Center, and the City agreed that the Aquatic Center would “accommodate the existing and long-term needs of the three swim teams as well as other programming and user groups.” We have shared our concerns that the schematic design does not meet the agreements made in the MOU because it appears too small to house current programming or allow for any growth.
As engaged aquatic supporters, please continue to submit feedback to the City of Walnut Creek about what you hope for in a new swim center. You can email City Council members directly via this email: mayor@walnut-creek.org (this will be delivered to the Mayor and all Council members) and City Manager Dan Buckshi your thoughts about the new swim center: buckshi@walnut-creek.org. You can also share your perspective by dropping by the City Council booth on Sundays at the Walnut Creek Farmers Market or by making a public comment during City Council meetings, which are held at 6:00 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month at City Hall.
We thank you for your continued alignment and support. We will keep you updated on the progress of the aquatic center project as well as provide information about the many ways to get involved in this important work!
In partnership,
The Walnut Creek Aquatic Foundation Board