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Elk Grove Puts $31 Million Toward New Aquatic Center

ELK GROVE (CBS13) — The city of Elk Grove is moving forward on building a new aquatic center. On Wednesday night, the city council voted to put $31 million towards the project.

"The residents have been committed to building these more amenities so we can make Elk Grove more attractive," said Mayor Steve Ly.

The new aquatic center will be located on 20 acres of land between Civic Center Drive and Big Horn Boulevard. Plans include an Olympic pool with springboards and a dive well, an instructional pool, and a recreational pool with a play structure.

"I'm all in for an aquatic center and park space and those types of things to where we spend our civic money," said Keith Mims.

Isaac Donnelly, 13, spends time at the Wackford Community and Aquatic Complex every day after school. He told CBS13 there isn't enough space for all of the kids looking to have fun in the water.

"There's a lot of people, it's kind of hard to just move around in the pool or get an open area where you can actually swim," Donnelly said.

"The only place you can really go that's public is this place right here," Mims said, pointing at Wackford.

And after the water is in, an expansive civic center is next. It'll include veterans hall, a library, and a senior center.

"It's well spent because it's an investment towards the future," Ly said.

But after 16 years of living in Elk Grove, Zenaida Culp isn't so sure recreation is worth it.

"Well I think it's a lot of money that we can use at something else," she said.

She'd rather see the money be spent on schools, police and roads. But Mayor Steve Ly wants to assure people in his community that putting $31 million towards the Civic Center won't take away from the quality of other departments within the city.

"These are money that has been programmed in from the get-go and we've already made the decision to go in that direction," Ly said.

Nevada-based company Arntz Builders, Inc. won the project with the lowest bid. They're expected to break ground on the Aquatics Center this summer. And because demand for water activity is so high in Elk Grove, Wackford is here to stay.

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