AMES — The Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center opened Friday, providing residents with a year-round recreational swimming facility after years of planning and construction.
The approximately $27 million facility features three aquatic basins, a six-lane lap pool, a recreation and splash pool and a Mary Greeley Medical Center wellness pool.
The public space features a six-lane lap pool, a warm-water wellness pool, and a zero-depth entry recreation pool complete with an indoor-outdoor body slide and current channel. Access to the aquatic features requires paid admission, though the facility’s indoor walking track remains free and open to the public.
Ames officials and community members celebrated the opening Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony before patrons were invited inside to explore the facility.
Parks and Recreation Director Keith Abraham said planning dates to December 2022, when the Ames City Council awarded the first design contract. Early estimates put the project at approximately $32 million, while Abraham said the final cost is expected to come in just over $27 million.
The city took steps during planning to prepare for potential construction expenses, including environmental concerns surrounding the site near Lincoln Way and North Elm and Oak avenues.
Because testing indicated the potential for historical groundwater contamination in the area, the city established a separate $1 million reserve for environmental costs that could arise during construction. Excavation of the pool basins ultimately did not encounter the contamination officials had prepared for, allowing the contingency money to remain unused.
Private donations also covered a significant portion of the facility. Nearly $9.4 million was donated by 48 individuals, organizations and businesses, while Story County contributed another $500,000.
Rich and Mary Fitch and their family contributed $3 million as the project’s lead donor, resulting in the facility carrying the Fitch family name.
“This will be a great asset for our city and community for decades to come,” Rich Fitch said during the ceremony.
The opening also gives Ames a second major indoor aquatic facility after a separate competition pool was built as part of the new Ames High School.
Mayor John Haila said city and school officials extensively discussed whether the two projects could be combined into a single aquatic center. Ultimately, the different needs of competitive and recreational swimmers made separate facilities a better way to accomplish the projects’ goals.
The former municipal pool was shared by the city and school district for more than 50 years. Haila said its water was kept around 83 to 84 degrees as a compromise, warmer than competitive swimmers preferred, but still cool enough that children taking swimming lessons could become uncomfortable.
The issue became more complicated when considering recreational swimming and Mary Greeley Medical Center’s interest in therapy-pool space, which requires warmer water.
“As you can imagine, there’s no way you can turn a temperature up or down in a matter of an hour,” Haila said.
Once officials determined multiple pools with different temperatures would be necessary, Haila said the advantages of putting everything under one roof diminished. Shared spaces such as locker rooms, bathrooms and a lobby could potentially have reduced some costs, but separate pools would still have been required.
Space and timing presented additional challenges. The school district needed to move forward with construction at its high school site, Haila said, while adding the city’s recreational components would have required additional space.
“It was talked about at length,” Haila said. “We just decided to accomplish all our goals and objectives; we really need to have multiple facilities.”
About 75 people attended Friday’s ceremony. The facility sits on the former site of St. Cecilia School and Church and an Iowa Department of Transportation office on Lincoln Way.
During the ceremony, Abraham reflected on the number of people involved in getting the project from its initial planning stages to opening day.
“This is a once-in-a-career type of project,” Abraham said.
Haila said the facility’s central location and access to CyRide help make it accessible to residents while adding another year-round recreational amenity to Ames.
“For a community our size to have an indoor rec center just sends a message that we’re really proud of our community,” Haila said.