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Third time’s the charm, or so Greensboro swim clubs hope.

When residents go to the polls this fall, they can support a $20 million bond package that includes money for a new aquatics center, or shoot it down for the third time in 10 years.

“The reasoning is out there, the justification is out there,” said David Hoggard, a member of Greensboro’s Parks and Recreation Commission. “It’s going to be a matter of getting it understood and explained correctly.”

The justification, he says, is that Greensboro’s swim facilities are inadequate. The pools are old, in need of repair and not large enough to accommodate growing interest.

At the same time, Charlotte and the Triangle host meets that bring hundreds of competitors into those areas. Without a center that meets competitive standards, Greensboro can’t hold these events.
But building the center would be costly — the bond sets aside $12 million — and the city would bear the burden of operating it. Although the sport is growing in Greensboro, a small percentage of youth participate in competitive swim programs.

Making the case

The bond includes $650,000 for pool repairs, but even the newer competition pools date to the 1970s. The ground shows beneath 50-year-old Lindley Pool’s crumbling deck.

And scheduling pool time for about 700 young swimmers in five year-round clubs is tricky.

Grimsley and Smith high schools house the only indoor city pools, and Guilford College and the American Hebrew Academy sometimes let clubs use their pools.

Seasonal swimmers exacerbate the problem.

“That works OK until high school swim season comes along and all the high schools need to use Smith and Grimsley,” said Ted Oliver, a Greensboro Swimming Association board member.

None of the public indoor facilities contains a 50-meter long-course pool. Lindley Park has an outdoor 50-meter pool open in warm-weather months, but the 2,200 swimmers in this month’s city meet pushed its capacity.

Greensboro would need that size indoor pool to host meets similar to ones in Charlotte and the Triangle.

Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center hosts each year the Charlotte UltraSwim, which draws in big-name, Olympic-caliber competitors. Meanwhile, Greensboro Swim Association holds its two annual meets in Hillsborough.

What’s the plan?

Candice Bruton, a parks and recreation project development manager, said the department won’t consider designs without funds, but a 50-meter pool is a priority. She said a warm-up pool and diving well also would make the list.

No location for the center has been identified; a 2006 proposal would have put a pool in the Greensboro Coliseum.

Bruton also doesn’t know what other amenities might be included.

Cary’s Triangle Aquatic Center, which was privately built and functions as a nonprofit, has a smaller instructional pool, fitness area and cafe. That center opened in 2007 and cost $22.5 million.

Oliver said Greensboro swimmers just want a pool.

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” he said.

What’s the cost?

Questions remain about whether $12 million would build the pool that City Council members and swimmers want.

Misty Selph, facilities director, said building the Chatham County Aquatic Center in Savannah, Ga. — which hosts four year-round teams but lacks a diving well — cost about $5 million.

But the pool opened about 10 years ago, and construction costs rise each year. The facility also has required extensive renovations.

Scott Hester, a studio director and partner at the pool-design firm Counsilman-Hunsacker, said feasibility studies and design processes jack up costs.

“You could very easily be talking anywhere from $15-25 million,” Hester said.

John McIlhargy, a USA Swimming engineer, said Greensboro could build a $12 million center using creative building techniques and materials.

Economic impact

No private donors have been identified to run the aquatics center, so the city likely would have to foot operational bills.

Roger Wexler supervises the Augusta Aquatics Center in Augusta, Ga. It has an annual operating budget of about $500,000.

Only about 40 percent of that is generated in pool revenue.

But Wexler said big swim events bring visitors to Augusta. He thinks the center’s economic impact probably outweighs its operating costs.

The aquatics center hosts two meets per week during the high school season, and regional events like the S.C. Independent School Association’s state meet draw big crowds.

Cary’s new center recently hosted the Virginia Long Course Championships.

And Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford proposed in 2006 moving the league’s swimming and diving championships to Greensboro once a center was built.

“That’s what this thing’s about with the big events,” Wexler said. “We probably make money with the thing.”

Bruton said that no current economic-returns analysis is available, but one economist in 2000 calculated the city’s projected return at $3 million per year.

Gaining support

Why, then, did swim center bonds fail in 2000 and again in 2006?

Bond supporters think the unfamiliar word “natatorium” on the ballot confused voters in 2000.

In 2006, a deluge of 11 bonds totaling $115 million may have led voters to defeat several items.

Oliver said $8 million for park renovations, pool repairs and turf installation this year might convince people to pass the $20 million package.

And Marc Bush, Greensboro Sports Commission president, said recent studies revealing high minority drowning rates might encourage people to support a center that also could offer learn-to-swim programs.

But recent news also indicates a struggling economy. At the City Council’s July 16 bond hearing, at least one resident said he didn’t think enough people would use the pool to warrant public funding.

Hoggard said supporters need to promote the bond more than they did in years past if they want it to pass.

Commissioners can take a stance, but city officials can’t advocate for bonds.

“I think the case has not been properly made before,” he said.

Groups such as Action Greensboro campaigned in 2006 for a swim center, but Executive Director April Harris said via e-mail that they will promote other issues this year.

Hoggard said much of the responsibility lies with the people who will use the center most: “I think a big portion of this needs to come from the swimming community itself.”

Contact Emily Stephenson at 373-7080 or emily.stephenson@news-record.com