Mobile County broke ground Friday on a new aquatic center that will bring the city’s first Olympic-sized competition swimming pool.
“Kids need to learn how to swim,” said Paige Madden, an Olympic silver and bronze medalist and native of Mobile. “Maybe there’s another Paige Madden within us, and we just need the resources to make that happen…I just hope [swimming] can touch at least one person in the same way it’s touched me.”
Phase I of the Mobile County Aquatic Center will include an outdoor, 50-meter competition swimming pool with two dive wells, an indoor warmup pool, a concession building, and locker rooms. Combined with Phase II of the project, the facility will total around 40,000 square feet.
The first phase of the facility is expected to be completed in 12 to 18 months. When the whole center is completed, it will be the second-largest swimming center in the state—second only to the Huntsville Aquatics Center.
The aquatic center will be part of the larger Mobile County Sportsplex on Halls Mill Road, which will also include a 10-field soccer complex.
Officials are hoping not only to grow swimming in Mobile but raise the city’s profile and draw more visitors to the area. Daryl Gomien, vice president of the City of Mobile Swim Association, said he hopes to host bigger tournaments in Mobile, including the Southeastern Swimming Championships.
“The states have heard about [the aquatic center], and they talk about it now,” Gomien said. “Now, it’s our turn to host, and come play on our playground.”
The first phase of the facility cost more than $23 million. The majority of that funding came from Mobile County funds, including funds allotted to the county from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The Mobile City Council contributed $3 million to the project, and the Mobile County School Public School System contributed $500,000.
Phase II of the aquatic center will include an indoor 25-meter competition pool, spectator seating, offices and more concessions. The second phase, which is in the design phase, is expected to cost around $8-10 million, Sharee Broussard, a spokesperson for the county said. Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson, who spearheaded the project, made it clear Friday they were looking for funding to move forward with that phase.
“[The second phase] will be moving forward as soon as funding permits,” Hudson said. “We’ll be coming back to our partners, just FYI.”
And they might get it. MCPSS Board Member Sherry McDade, on hand to celebrate the groundbreaking, said the school board was willing to financially support the second phase of the project.
“Our students from Mobile County Public Schools will be able to come out here and be competitive,” McDade said Friday. “We’re looking forward to do the most that we possibly can to make sure your dream becomes a reality.”
The hope is to grow more Olympic medalists, like Madden, in Mobile. Gomien said enrollment in CMSA programs has increased since momentum has picked up on the new aquatic center and will soon double.
Madden said she hopes more children will get the chance to swim in the city. Swimming has shaped her identity and given her incredible opportunities, and she hopes more kids will get to experience that.
“I think it’s going to open up a lot of doors for young children…whether it’s professionally, academically, meeting new people,” Madden said. “[Swimming] has truly shaped me as a person.”
