GREENSBORO, North Carolina, February 18. A state-of-the-art $18.8 million aquatics center will be coming to Greensboro as part of an overall strategy to turn Greensboro into a place to hold championship events.
The Greensboro Aquatic Center, which will be located adjacent to the Greensboro Coliseum, will be a 74,000 square foot indoor facility designed to host all major aquatic sports – competitive swimming, water polo, synchronized swimming and diving – in one venue.
The facility will also accommodate 1,850 off-deck permanent spectator seats and will be capable of temporary retractable bleacher seating bringing total capacity to 2,500 persons. The competition pool is an all-deep water pool, 52.5-meters by 25-yards with two moveable bulkheads which will allow up to 10 different pool configurations for maximum flexibility. It will also allow two water polo events to run simultaneously.
A 25-yard wide diving well, 17 feet deep, will be outfitted with a soft water landing system. It is designed to provide soft water landing for divers during practice, and it will enhance the process of learning new dives for competition. The separate diving well features a pair of one- and three-meter springboards, as well as a full set of diving platforms up to 10-meters. The facility will also have the capability of hosting synchronized diving events. The divers will also have access to a separate spa and warming showers, these components will be directly adjacent to the diving platforms.
The Aquatics Center will also be equipped with a full color LED video display and scoreboard and incorporates state of the art sound and lighting systems.
The Greensboro Aquatics Center did not get approved without controversy or accusations of back-room deals. Initially estimated to cost $12 million, the City Council had to make up the difference with $7 million in hotel tax revenue according to a News-Record article.
The initial $12 million was voter-approved money, but the remaining $7 million had to be approved by a 5-4 vote from the City Council. Meanwhile, according to a Lincoln Tribune article, "Guilford County commissioners also had to sign off on the aquatic center funding, and they did so unanimously without debate or a public hearing at a Jan. 14 meeting."
A spokesperson for the Greensboro Aquatics Center PR firm, RLF Communications, considers the matter closed and is excited for the future of the facility.
"As with any major investment that involves tax dollars, the citizens of Greensboro vigorously debated the merits of building the Aquatics Facility," RLF Communications president Monty Hagler told Swimming World in response to the controversy. "A majority of Greensboro's citizens voted for it in a bond referendum in 2008, supported it as it went through intense review and applauded the decision of the city council in December 2009 to move forward with construction. The facility will be one of the best aquatics centers on the East Coast and a tremendous asset to the Greensboro community."
