The California Coastal Commission will be discussing and is expected to vote on the Belmont Plaza pool project during its meeting on December 10, over 8 years after the demolition of the original Belmont Plaza Olympic pool.
The old Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool was torn down in 2014 over concerns about its ability to withstand an earthquake. One of the largest indoor pools in the country, it was originally built to host the 1968 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. Over the years, the facility also hosted some of the nation’s largest swimming events, including the 1976 Trials, the 1974 NCAA Championships, and the 1978 NCAA Championships.
With the 2028 Olympic Games scheduled to occur in Los Angeles, the rebuilding of the facility has become a priority for the California Coastal Commission. The commission is also looking to rebuild Belmont Pier to host the sailing events, in addition to developing new beach concession stands, a new hotel in downtown Long Beach, and improvements to public transportation.
Currently, the pool is proposed to be designed in a way that would enable it to hold major national-level competitions. Although the designs have been scaled back from the original plans, the facility is still set to include several notable features, such as:
- A 50-meter by 25-yard outdoor pool
- 1,500 permanent spectators seats
- A recreational/play/therapy pool
- The current temporary outdoor pool at the site would be made permanent to give the facility 2 50-meter pools.
- The diving well and towers would be outside at the Northeast corner of the project.
If approved, construction of the facility is estimated to take about 3 years with an approved budget of about $103 million.
I miss the old Belmont pool too! I swam in CIF finals a couple times in the 70s. Great memories. Best wishes for Belmont’s future.
Our kids were swimming there for wag meet when the pool went down on Saturday afternoon, finals canceled. Amazingly SBSC did the overnight/ early morning move to Golden West and the meet finished Sunday with minimal problems.
Were there viewing windows in that pool from below deck?
Had some great swims and moments at the old Belmont. Yankee Doodles and Chuck’s!
103 million sounds pretty cheap for California. Hope that wasn’t the bid price 3 years ago when they dug up the old pool. 3 year of inflation in the California market would make that about 153 million today. Good luck staying under budget.
It looks as though they already had to adjust the overall design of the pool in order to stay under budget last year. Originally, the budget was only about $60 million I believe
I wonder if they can put in a bulkhead that needs to be moved every few heats when big guys swim. I remember the lanes by the diving board gradually got faster and faster while they lanes by the stands got slower and slower as the bulkhead moved a tiny bit after each heat.
Rooting hard for this project! I sure miss the old pool, but time marches on and this would be a huge asset to the city and the region.
I loved racing at the old Belmont pool. Swam many a best time there. I liked that it was indoors as it is hard to come by in CA. When the weather was nice they could slide up the garage doors and you get the best of both worlds right on the beach. I wish the model would have been like the old one. But I will not complain about a new pool being built! I hope they see the new project to completion. Make me nervous it has been so long.
It’s hard to notice, but it look like there is both indoor and outdoor pools in the design