New Belmont Pool To Feature Diving Well, Seating For More Than 1,000
Photo by Matthew S. DeMaria
LONG BEACH – After nearly two years of debate and public outcry, the new Belmont pool will be a mecca for top-flight swimming and diving competitions, thanks to a unanimous committee vote Tuesday night that created more seating and a separate diving well.
The diving community was very vocal this year about the lack of a diving well in the initial plans for the Belmont Aquatic Center, which was replacing the storied Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool that was closed in January 2013 due to structural concerns. Letters to the Long Beach City Council poured in from Olympic divers and coaches who expressed the need for a state-of-the-art diving well to exist alongside the 50-meter pool that would be built.
The previous pool had a diving well that was part of the competition pool, but this new facility will have its own diving tank that does not appear to add to the overall budget, according to an article on Gazettes.com. The cost to build the diving well will be taken from the money that would have paid for a banquet hall. The on-site restaurant will be scaled down as well.
The committee that voted on the design upgrades was tasked with keeping the budget at $99 million, but promised that the extra money for seating would be paid from the Tidelands Fund.
The new facility will also have seating for more than 1,000 spectators, a little bit more than the previous building could hold. The original plan allotted space for about 600 seats, but an additional $4.1 million will pay for the extra 450 seats. This could bring such major meets at the Pac 12 swimming championships back to Long Beach. The meet had been held there for decades and had to be moved to Washington state after the closure. It’s likely the diving portion of the conference meet could now also relocate there after many years in Washington.
Currently, a temporary outdoor pool is in place to give locals a place to swim while preparation for construction continues. The former pool was legendary as the site of the 1968 and 1976 Olympic Trials and saw numerous world records set there.
And hopefully NCAAs and even U.S. Nationals too. Both meets have been held there in the past – the NCAAs in 1974 and ’78 and the DII meet when it was combined in ’83 (both sexes at same meet at same time).
That’s what should be done in DI too. I.e., have one meet wher men and women swim alternately. That ‘ show it is done in track and nobody seems to mind.