Make Your Voice Heard

Make Your Voice Heard

NOW IS THE MOMENT!

We need YOU to attend the City Council Meeting on March 5 at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall. 

Staff will be presenting a proposed two pool design of one recreational pool with 6 lap lanes attached + one multi-use 50 meter pool that reduces the pool space and functionality of the swim center to less than what we have now, much less than what we had when this facility was built in 1970, and less than what our community wants and needs for the future. Further, the three swim teams who pay $350,000 in rent to swim there year round would be negatively impacted and do not support the proposed design.

The Walnut Creek Aquatic Foundation is a community-based non-profit organization that was created to support aquatics for people of all ages and abilities. In May 2022, in an effort to save a 50-meter competition pool and ensure the new swim center would serve generations to come, we agreed to raise $3 million as part of a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Walnut Creek. The Walnut Creek Aquatic Foundation is urging the City to:

1.     Deepen the proposed 50-meter pool throughout and add an L entry so that the pool can be used for lap swim, fitness, team training, and competition. This can be achieved by lengthening the 50-meter pool by two meters, adding a bulkhead and an L entry or if there is insufficient space or funding for this alternative by simply deepening the 50-meter pool throughout and adding the L entry.

2.     Add four lanes to the recreation pool, bringing it to 10 total lanes.The proposed design takes away the lessons pool and has added significant recreational seasonal play features which are a great addition, but four more lanes are needed to ensure ample space for year-round lessons, fitness, lap swim, and teams.  

3.     Increase spectator and in-venue team areas around the 50-meter pool. This is needed to support All City/championship meets/polo, and to allow staging and spectator areas for the Aquanuts’ shows which will be in the 50-meter pool.

4.     The Aquanuts have requested that the added four lanes to the recreation pool be seven feet deep. This is not in lieu of improvements 1-3, or an all deep 50-meter pool. This deep water could be used by the Aquanuts for practice and by lap swimmers, scuba, and other teams.

5.     Add a permanent scoreboard for meets and special events. This could be used for meets, Aquanuts shows, advertising and could be a naming-rights fundraising item.
 

WE NEED YOU! 

Make your voice heard by attending the March 5th City Council Meeting. Let Council know you are a member of the community, that you support the WCAF proposal and why.  We need a large showing to demonstrate the community supports the WCAF proposal! The agendas for public meetings are posted the Friday before the scheduled meeting. If you can’t make a public comment in person, please submit your comment to PublicComments@walnut-creek.orgpreferably by the afternoon of the meeting so it will be part of the official record. Please tell your friends and family to do the same! Click here to learn more about submitting or making a public comment.
 

SAMPLE TOPICS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT 

  • Your name.
  • Your connection to Walnut Creek.
  • Your connection to the swim center or the reason you are making a public comment.
  • That you support the WCAF proposal.
  • Why it is important to you that the City make the changes the WCAF is recommending.

In partnership,
The Walnut Creek Aquatic Foundation Board