Public Service Announcement
By Tyler Faurot / San Diego Union-Tribune / September 19, 2024
As the city of San Diego seeks public input on conceptual designs for a proposed aquatic center in NTC Park at Liberty Station, it held the first in a series of community meetings Sept. 12 at the Point Loma/Hervey Library.
Plans for a community swimming complex at NTC Park date to a 2001 redevelopment plan following the closure in 1997 of Naval Training Center San Diego, which became the Liberty Station commercial and cultural center. The plan, prepared by McMillin NTC and the city of San Diego, included “a community swimming pool or aquatic center and a lighted multiuse sports field and/or areas for court sports or general play such as might be found on open-space lawn areas.”
The current concept includes 25- and 50-meter pools (27 and 54 yards), a kids splash pad, a water slide, a picnic area, outdoor storage, indoor storage and a mechanical room, a lobby, an administrative office and locker rooms.
Stephen Rodi, chairman of the Peninsula Aquatic Complex Council, an advocacy group, said before the community workshop that “whatever is ultimately built, we are just excited for San Diego that the city is pushing the project forward and that it just might become a reality in the near term.”
The Peninsula Aquatic Complex Council was formed in 2017 to engage the city after years of false starts prevented the project from maintaining momentum.
San Diego completed a feasibility study on the project late last year and is moving forward with conceptual designs before a budget for construction and maintenance is determined.
The feasibility study eyed the area along the waterfront at NTC Park. At the time, Rodi identified the abandoned Building 619 and its surrounding grass area as the site of interest. The property was used as a child care facility for military families when the naval base was active.
At the community meeting, project architects shared the findings of the feasibility study, as well as two diagrams showing possible configurations of amenities at the aquatic center.
Rommel Olaes of RNT Architects emphasized that the diagrams “are just two different ideas that we had conveyed just to see what could be possible based on the constraints of the site.”
Nearly 40 people attended the meeting, almost all of whom cited a lack of aquatic centers to meet local demand. Among them were parents of water sports athletes, coaches, professional athletes and taxpayers.
The night began with some community members pressing architects for an estimate of the project’s cost and how it would be funded.
“At this time there are no funds yet,” architect Kevin Nguyen said. “We have enough funds to do the design phase and the study. Once we gather feedback from the surveys and refine our designs, we can determine the cost estimate and then look for funding.”
Some in attendance voiced frustration at the time that has passed since the 2001 plan.
“This was supposed to be done 20 years ago,” resident Kristoff Kusmic said. “Why are we back before square one?”
Stephen Rodi (center), chairman of the Peninsula Aquatic Complex Council, addresses participants in a Sept. 12 community meeting about a long-contemplated aquatic center at Liberty Station in Point Loma. (Tyler Faurot)
Rodi tried to quell the frustration and redirect the scope of the inquiries and feedback.
“There’s a lot of reasons why there were all these delays. There were political issues, financial issues, management issues,” Rodi said. “A lot of your questions can’t be answered here. This group isn’t here to answer those questions; this group is here to see how we move forward. We’ve been waiting for a day like this for 10 years, and I think it’s an opportunity for all of us to be proactive.”
After that, people began listing particular needs they’d like the anticipated facility to meet.
Tom Carroll, an Ocean Beach resident and a member of the Peninsula Aquatic Complex Council, emphasized the need for a state-of-the-art facility and suggested the scope of the project could be broadened to meet that need.
“This site has the opportunity to be something transformational for San Diego,” he said. “We could look at something potentially bigger. It already seems like the scope is narrow, and we haven’t even gotten off the ground.”
Resident Bryan Bishop suggested the facility would have no problem finding swimmers and teams to occupy the pools.
“There is so much need for more pool space,” Bishop said. “From a competition side, you’re going to have no problem renting this out to water polo players. We’ve never had a big tournament down in San Diego. We’ve always had to go up to Los Angeles or Northern California, and it’s embarrassing that we can’t put on something here.”
Parent Candace Groesbeck says a possible aquatic center at Liberty Station should have more pool space and less kids space. (Tyler Faurot)
Candace Groesbeck, a mother of three, said she’s “very interested” in having an aquatic center in the Point Loma area but argued that less space should be dedicated for kid-friendly splash pads and instead should be reserved for pool space.
“I’ve taken my kids all over the county; I just think there are other places that people can take their kids,” Groesbeck said. “If that was a money draw, having people pay to take their kids there, I don’t think we need that. I would favor more pool space than more kid space. As much as I love kids, I think there’s plenty for little kids to do.”
A question arose about whether the Point Loma High School swim teams would be able to use the pool. Susie Croke, a district manager with the city of San Diego, said the city has a joint-use agreement with all the San Diego Unified School District high schools and that allowing the schools to access to the pool is a “top priority.”
“This pool will not be a joint-use pool, but we have a joint-use agreement in the same way that several fields at schools are run by the city,” Croke said.
After facing several queries about expanding the scope, Olaes told the Point Loma-OB Monthly that those kinds of decisions are beyond his control.
“We were given a scope of work saying ‘This is the area we want you to assess [and] come up with a feasibility study, and that’s the extent,” Olaes said. “We knew this was coming. It’s the process and that’s how it works. I really wish I could answer a lot of questions in terms of the scope, but that’s not really for me to decide. I’m hoping that if enough input and feedback and pressure gets put into our survey, this thing will become a much bigger project.
“Our goal, really, is to have everyone participate — not only this group in here but everyone in this neighborhood — to give us feedback. The end result of that [is] we will be analyzing the feedback that we receive and developing a refinement to these two various schemes. Hopefully it develops into a more detailed singular theme that encompasses the various priorities and programs the community wants.”
The project team is gathering further input through an online survey at engage.counsilmanhunsaker.com/ntc-park-aquatic-center. The survey closes Friday, Oct. 4.
However, Rodi expressed apprehension about the survey, calling it “narrow.”
“The survey focuses on the existing concepts presented by RNT,” Rodi said. “Therefore, an uninformed person might think those are the only options available. The community needs are so much more than was heard [at the meeting]. This facility needs to serve the region, and this region is a lot larger than Point Loma.”
Another community meeting will be held on a date to be determined.
Some of the YMCA facilities have 2 pools. One pool has a cover that part of it opens & closes. It great during winter months when it’s colder, windy , or yes occasional rain storms. As a lap swimmer, over 40 years, I use those pools year around at least 3 times per week. Also what about a small 3rd pool for very young children & parents trying to get their kids used to water. That way if they throw up or you know what , they don’t have to kick all the other swimmers out of the pool sometimes for 24 hours. ( I can’t tell you how often this happens)