U.S. Olympic Swim Trials pool heading to Fort Wayne
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowBuilding the pool used for the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis took 200 workers over four weeks to complete. But what happens to the pool now that the trials are over?
The competition pool will be disassembled, loaded onto four semis, and trucked to Fort Wayne, where it will be the main attraction at a future $50 million community wellness center operated by not-for-profit Fort Wayne Swimming and Wellness Alliance Inc.
The organization says it has secured the funding to purchase the pool, but the purchase price is not being disclosed.
President John Gibson told Business of Health Reporter Kylie Veleta that the project will not only support the health of the community but also provide needed space for young swimmers, as well as aqua fitness and aqua therapy.
“There’s some people maybe in the area doing them right now but they rent space from hotel pools,” he said. “I mean, there’s no place to do it.”
Fort Wayne Swimming and Wellness is now leading the charge to raise the rest of the funding needed for the new facility. The not-for-profit says the region has far outgrown its pool space. Greater Indianapolis has 16 50-meter pools. Fort Wayne only has one, and it’s used by nine high schools.
A Purdue University Fort Wayne study says the wellness center would generate a $20 million economic impact annually, bringing visitors to the area for competitions that would boost local hotels and restaurants, as well as creating up to 250 jobs.
“We know we’ve got a big lift and a lot of work ahead of us, but we feel really confident we’re going to get this thing off the ground and make it happen,” said Gibson. “Fort Wayne just does not know what it’s missing out on right now. We don’t have the facility to be able to host major swim and dive competitions, whether it’s club, high school, [or] collegiate. It’s untapped right now.”
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A rendering of the Fort Wayne Swimming and Wellness center’s exterior. (image provided)
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A floor plan for the Fort Wayne Swimming and Wellness center. (image provided)
Plans for the wellness center also call for a second smaller pool for swim lessons, aqua fitness and aqua therapy.
The organization’s website notes that the Greensboro Aquatic Center in North Carolina—a city similar in size and demographic to Fort Wayne—opened in 2011 and has generated $182 million in economic impact in the first 10 years of operation.
Gibson said the not-for-profit is in the early stages of its campaign and specific details and a location for the new facility have not yet been finalized.
The organization is exploring partnerships with local companies for naming rights for the center, which is expected to open by 2027 and make big waves in the region.
“That allure, that attraction of having that Olympic trial pool with the Olympic trial starting blocks and all the insignias and logos and everything, it’s pretty exciting for everyone here in Fort Wayne,” said Gibson.
In the meantime, a local business owner in Fort Wayne volunteered his warehouse space to store the pool until it can be assembled at the new wellness center.