Packed house for grand opening of pool facility
No one could have chosen a better day to open Morgan Hill’s new Aquatics Center if they tried.
Not a cloud was in the sky, and a light breeze blew as hundreds of Morgan Hill residents, and some non-residents, turned out for the grand opening Saturday.
On top of the perfect weather, the water was just right, swimmers said.
“We all should be very proud,” Councilman Larry Carr boasted. “This is quite an accomplishment for the community.”
The Aquatics Center features a 50-meter, Olympic-sized pool with two diving boards, a smaller pool that ranges in depth from three-and-a-half feet to four-and-a-half feet and a wading pool with a zero depth entry that slowly increases to 18 inches.
The wading pool features a play structure, like one at any park – except that this one shoots water.
A 150-foot slide standing 30-feet high towers over the park, overlooking the wading pool. The line to the top of the slide was full almost all day long.
“This is wonderful,” declared Donna McCombs of Morgan Hill. “I’ve been looking forward to it for many years.”
“It’s really cool!” exclaimed Morgan Parks, a child from Morgan Hill. “It’s good. We don’t have to go to San Jose anymore.”
“This place is fabulous!” Morgan Hill resident Dennis Listol proclaimed.
“This is another gem for this community,” Mayor Dennis Kennedy said. “It is everything we hoped for and more.”
For kids, the recreation department offered games from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., including a water balloon toss and a variety of races, like a sack race. The children were all awarded fish rub-on tattoos.
Saturday the recreation department passed out mini-beachballs to everyone who passed through the gates. Some had marks on them that gave prizes of T-shirts, day passes, a 10-punch day pass and concession certificates good for a hotdog, chips and a drink.
Sunday, from 6-9 p.m. was a teen swim, with music provided by KDON radio station where participants won movie passes, tickets and CDs, said Karen Lengsfield, coordinator of community service for the city.
Lengsfield said that Saturday focused mainly on recreation, whereas Sunday’s focus was on competition, including the swim clubs and water polo.
On hand for the opening was the entire City Council, although Hedy Chang had to cut her visit short for a family visit in Michigan.
Following a round of speeches, the council officially broke in the new pools.
First, four of the five members raced each other across the 50 meter pool – which was won by Carr. Then it was off to the slides where Kennedy had the honor of being the first to slide down.
“That is wonderful!” Kennedy shouted after his ride. “That is awesome!”
Kennedy later took advantage of the diving boards, though he had to wait in line to use them.
During the speeches, the public was allowed to enter the park for free to get a look around.
“It looks like a lot of fun,” Morgan Hill resident Jim Lee said.
Following the official christening of the park by the council, everyone was brought out side for the ceremonial “ribbon” cutting. The ribbon was actually a rope that marks swimming lanes in the pool.
The Aquatics Center has been three years in the making, with pushing from not only Mayor Kennedy, but the entire aquatic community who have been championing for better facilities.
Before the center opening, swim practices took place at the Live Oak and Britton pools and in San Jose and Santa Clara pools. In recent months, the Britton pool was closed, severely limiting the swim clubs.
“(The center) is going to be a great asset,” said Cindy Acevedo, vice president of the Morgan Hill Swim Club.
“We all worked really hard to get the center open.”
Once the rope fell, the crowd cheered and entered the Aquatics Center to do their own christening.
“This is a beautiful place for kids,” Jennifer Gonzalez of Hollister said.
“I would rather drive 40 minutes to here than two hours to go to Stockton,” Gonzalez’s husband Gavino said.
Children and parents poured into the center, and following the application of sun screen, dove right in.
“This is impressive,” said Courtney Robinson, 13, of Morgan Hill. “I didn’t think it would get done when they said it would, but they did it. It’s pretty cool.”
The children splashed, laughed, screamed and splashed some more. They filled up their “Big Squirt” tubes at one of the many fountains at the park, and between squirting their friends and siblings, made sure that mom and dad were not getting too hot, or staying too dry.
Children also lined up to take full advantage of the slide. While there is only one big slide now – there is a smaller one in the kid pool – the structure is capable of adding a second slide should demand warrant one.
Parents either soaked up the sun, kept a close eye on their kids or joined them with the splashing.
“I didn’t expect something like this,” said Bill Corbin of Morgan Hill. “They did a real good job.”
Lifeguards stood ready to deal with any problem that might arise, and made sure everyone followed the rules, especially no running. They were not needed except to tell youngsters to stop running.
Councilman Greg Sellers said no one could predict how the center would be received until it finally opened.
“We couldn’t truly get a sense of how successful it would be until we see the kids use it,” Sellers said. “Now, it’s like it has been here forever.”
One of the goals of the Aquatics Center, was to bring the community together. Children will now have a place to go during the summer.
“This is a safe place for the older kids,” said Dolores Akin, from the Morgan Hill Swim Club. “This is a great place.”
The center is also a place where many hope the community can come together.
“Just the hospitality here is different than San Jose,” said Mark Beaker, who is planning to move to Morgan Hill from San Jose. “This place should help to gel the community. It’s a great place for people to come. I wish we had something like this in San Jose.”
Morgan Hill resident Jim Lee shared a similar sentiment.
“This is a great place to meet people and socialize,” Lee said. “If you go to Raging Waters, you’re the only one there you know.”
For the opening day, admission of $5 for youths and adults, $3 for children 2-to-9-years-old was the same for residents and non-residents; however starting Monday, admission went up for non-residents to $6, $4 for children.
The total cost for the center was $13.9 million paid for by Redevelopment Agency funds, although, Robert Eves, president of Venture Corp., donated $750,000 and local swim clubs fundraised furiously.
While the concession was open during the day, the center offered free hotdogs. The line for the hotdogs was consistent, with a steady stream of people taking a break from swimming.
BUSINESS BOOST
Along with community spirit, there is some hope that the Aquatics Center along Condit just north of Tennant Avenue, will also bring revenue to local businesses.
Sam Panwala, owner of the Comfort Inn directly across the street from the center, says while he hasn’t seen any increase in bookings, he hopes that competitions will bring more business.
“With the soccer complex and the Aquatics Center, we should see a lot of business,” he said at the center.
During the planning for the center, some had hoped that San Francisco would be chosen for the 2012 Olympics in the hopes that the center would be used for practice.
While Panwala was disappointed that San Francisco was not awarded the bid, he still is eager for the swim competitions that will occur later in the summer.
While the center is now officially open, work is still not complete.
Still to be completed is a sunshade that will spray a light mist on users while keeping them out of the sun; wind screens that will help knock down the wind during blustery days and a fence to divide the recreational swimmers from the 50-meter pool while competition swimmers are using it.
Also still to be completed is a deep water diving pool that will be built when money can be found.
“That is a part of our long range vision,” Kennedy said.
The Aquatics Center will be open through September, so long as the city is making money. Once the city decides to pull out for the season, local swim clubs have pledged to keep the center open during the off season for practice and competitions.
Details: www.morganhill.ca.gov or 782-2134.
