A year after the City of Santa Clara abruptly closed the George F. Haines International Swim Center indefinitely due to safety concerns, the City Council has approved a large-scale renovation that would allow the complex to reopen.
The City Council unanimously voted 7-0 to go ahead with the renovation, capping the amount that can be spent at $10 million. $8.6 million will be reallocated from two general funds from the current fiscal year to pay for the bulk of the project, according to MSN.
In January 2024, Santa Clara Swim Club athletes showed up to the ISC for practice to find the gates locked and the pool “closed until further notice.” The pool had developed into a bedrock for the swimming and diving community since it opened in 1967, but a city-commissioned structural assessment revealed major safety concerns about the facility. It was reported at the next City Council meeting, which was well-attended by SCSC supporters, that 21 items were not up to code. Local outlet KRON4 reported these items included the diving tower’s settlement issues and “structural instability and deterioration” in the viewing area under the deep well.”
Later, Santa Clara approved a short-term renovation plan, which focused on temporarily getting a couple of the ISC’s three pools back up and running, which would’ve given the SCSC athletes a chance to get back into the facility. However, the plan was delayed when workers found further damage.
This recently approved plan aims to fully reopen the complex, unlike the short-term plan. That includes addressing the diving tower’s issues. The Bay Area News Group reported that if the city is able to reopen the diving well, it would bring the only public diving-capable facility south of San Francisco and Oakland back online.
It would also bring back the ISC’s 50-meter pool. Before it closed, the ISC was a staple of the domestic calendar in the United States and hosted events on the official USA Swimming circuit (now called the Pro Swim Series).
Aquatic history is being saved!
(Somewhere, George Haines is HAPPY!)
Excellent!
I know they have platform diving towers at De Anza junior college and Independence high school but maybe they are closed also??
Or I’m assuming they consider diving facilities attached to a school as not public
Yes, the school facilities are not public. Stanford also has complete towers, but there are no other public facilities.
DeAnza demolished their diving towers. Independence still has theirs.
We back!
Finally!