They decided at a work session today to build the multipurpose center, rather than a facility whose focus is a 50-meter, Olympic-sized pool, in part because of pressure from lawmakers who appropriated the funds for the facility.
Several councilors favored using the $18 million from the state to build an initial facility that is primarily an aquatic center, but they agreed to begin with a multipurpose facility and plan for a future expansion that includes an Olympic pool after lawmakers pledged to help with funding for the second phase.
Some lawmakers said they would provide such help only if the city honored their intent with the first phase – the creation of a multipurpose facility.
“We want to touch as many lives as positively as we can with health and wellness,” Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, told councilors.
The decision allows the city to begin planning and potentially break ground later this year on the facility, which will be located on the corner of Hadley Avenue and Solano Drive. The multipurpose facility will include what’s called a “medium-leisure pool” that includes three lap lanes, slides and a shallow area for children.
Councilors Steve Trowbridge and Ken Miyagishima suggested that city residents pushing for an Olympic pool consider a referendum petition that would tack a bond question onto the November city election and allow city residents to decide whether to implement a small tax increase to pay back bonds used to expand the facility.
Approval of such bonds, Miyagishima suggested, could raise the $5 million that would be necessary to build the multipurpose facility and an Olympic-size pool. Doing it in November would allow the city to build the entire facility at once, rather than adding the pool at a later date, and would cost less than trying to add it on later.
“This is your chance,” Miyagishima said to those who want a larger pool.