Construction is wrapped up and pools are filled at Ames’ new indoor aquatic center.
The City of Ames broke ground on the Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center in April 2024 at 115 N. Elm Ave., near the intersection of Lincoln Way and Grand Avenue.
The 38,900-square-foot facility will open in April, featuring a water slide, three pool areas, and a current channel. It will offer exercise classes, water walking, lap swimming, open recreation, swimming lessons and additional exercise opportunities.
The city pursued the aquatic center to fill a gap in competitive and recreational swimming activities, Ames Parks and Recreation Director Keith Abraham said.
“Our hope is that people love (the aquatic center) and that it meets their needs,” Abraham said. “We want to make sure that people’s lives are enhanced, embedded, improved and so on.”
The aquatic center ended up well under budget at about $27 million, Abraham said, while the original project estimate was $32 million
Abraham attributed the lower cost to competitive bidding, the absence of contaminated materials on site, and good project management.
“I think we did a good job of managing the project to make sure that we didn’t have a lot of those change orders and a lot of extra costs,” Abraham said. “We’ve got a good team that have been working on this project, so we’ve been blessed.”
Although an exact opening date has not yet been set, the city will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony in April.
New Ames aquatic center will have three pools
The lap pool will be for all ages, Abraham said. It will be used for lap swimming, swim lessons, open swim, water volleyball and water aerobics. There’s also been some early conversations about teaching kayaking, he said.
The recreation pool will mainly be used for open swim.
The wellness pool will have warmer water for parent-child swim classes. It will also be used for aqua classes and individual exercise.
“If somebody comes and they don’t necessarily want to water walk or to lap swim, maybe they want to go in and hold on to the side and do some leg swinging in the water or do something like that, they’ll be able to,” Abraham said.
Aquatic center will also feature a walking track
The Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center will feature a walking track as an additional exercise option. The track is free for public use.
The aquatic center also sports a multi-purpose room that can be used for fitness classes, youth activities, or even meetings. Party rooms will be available for children’s birthday parties.
When can you swim at the indoor aquatic center?
The indoor aquatic center will be open for programming in April and May before focus shifts to the Furman Aquatic Center along 13th Street. The outdoor aquatic center will be used for programs and open swim during summer hours.
Information on season passes is available on the city’s website.
Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: The pools are filled at Ames’ new indoor aquatic center. When’s it open?
Reporting by Celia Brocker, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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