FOLEY – A new indoor aquatics center is planned to replace Foley’s 71-year-old swimming pool in less than three years.
Foley officials held a public meeting Tuesday, July 23, to gather input from residents about the features they would like to be included in the facility replacing the current pool. More than 100 people took part in the meeting.
Residents who did not attend the meeting and who want to provide input on the aquatics center can also complete an online survey at Foleyaquaticscenter.
The Foley aquatics center is scheduled to open by the end of 2026. Design and planning will be completed by the spring of 2025 with construction beginning around August 2025.
David Thompson, Foley executive director of leisure services, said Foley needs an indoor aquatics center to replace the current outdoor pool.
“We have our outdoor pool, which is very well utilized during the summer,” Thompson said. “We want not only a year-round program for our swim teams, but we want it for everyone as well where we can have swimming lessons year-round. We can have water aerobics year round.”
Mayor Ralph Hellmich said Foley has outgrown the current pool and needs a new facility.
“We want to provide this amenity for our city,” Hellmich said. “We have 26,000 people in Foley now. I grew up swimming in that pool, which was built in 1953, but you can’t use it during the winter.”
Thompson said officials have not determined if the aquatic center will be constructed on the same site as the existing pool.
“The proposed site, which will be downtown, is going to be in Max Griffin Park,” Thompson said. “The exact location is still to be determined. There is a possibility that it may go on top of where the existing pole is, which may cause us to have shut down the pool for a summer as we go through the construction period.”
He said the project is part of an ongoing effort to improve the park and downtown Foley.
“We’re creating a better downtown amenity,” Thompson said. “We’re planning to overhaul that whole park. Our step one in Max Griffin Park was our Kids Park, which is one of the best kids parks in the area. We’re very proud of it. We want to do the same thing with the aquatics center. We’re going to continue to grow and upgrade our parks.”
During the meeting, participants were asked to vote on which amenities they would like to see at the new center. Audience members could place colored stickers on posters with features such as a diving board, slide, lap pool, leisure-therapy pool and spray feature.
Thompson said one feature already proposed is a splash pad. He said the city could place a splash pad at the site, but the feature may not be included in the plans for the center.
“There is a possibility that we do have a splash pad,” Thompson said. “That may be part of another project. We may have some spray features but I don’t anticipate having an indoor splash pad. That may be something we locate on site or somewhere else locally, but that’s going to depend on our budget.
The new center will be a saltwater based pool which will not need as much chlorine treatment as is required by the current facility.
Thompson said the center is still being designed, but the new pool will be a standard regulation length in order to allow swimmers to prepare for competitions.
“I know, for swimmers, it is very challenging to swim one length every day and then compete in another length,” Thompson said. “We’re going to make sure that we build this to competition size for our high school as well as for our local swim teams.”
The new pool will also have zero-entry access, an area where the water gradually deepens. The feature will allow swimmers who may have difficulty using ladders to get into and out of the pool.