$4.5 million Olympic-sized pool to open next spring

Saturday, Aug. 23, 1997 | 11:07 a.m.

"It's wonderful and long overdue," said Nina Reitz, Las Vegas Gold swim team coach. "Las Vegas is notorious for not having any new facilities. The county hasn't built a new (public) pool for more than 20 years."

Since the old pool was closed in February, seven high schools, the elite Gold swim team and numerous other aquatic clubs have been relegated to early morning and late night swim shifts at other public pools, including the one at UNLV.

"Once the downtown pool opens, the potential of easing the crunch for a lot of groups hopefully will be a reality," said Ms. Reitz, who coaches about 100 swimmers of all age groups on the competitive swim team.

Architectural firm Swisher & Hall A.I.A. Ltd. is designing the new municipal pool near the corner of Bonanza Road and Las Vegas Boulevard. Design plans have yet to be completed, but city Parks Director Dave Kuiper said the facility will include a year-round, Olympic-sized indoor pool and a new building for showers and locker rooms.

It will be the city's only year-round pool. Seven other city-operated pools are open from June through August.