FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)— A world-class natatorium could be coming to Fort Wayne in a few years. The Capital Improvement Board, CIB, approved funding at its May 22 meeting.
Fort Wayne Swim and Wellness, FWSW, asked the CIB for $7 million for the new aquatic center. FWSW claims that the community lacks space. It has been approximately 25 years since Greater Fort Wayne invested in pool architecture. Board member of the FWSW Brian Hench said that hundreds of families are on a waitlist for swim lessons, and swim teams are practicing in unsafe lane packing.
“We’ve got kids that are practicing on the swim team, the middle school, high school swim teams, as late as 9 o’clock at night, sometimes later. Then, getting up the next morning for practice at 6 a.m.,” Hench said. “We are packed to the gills, and there’s just not enough pool space. We’re practicing at unsafe levels, and we’re not able to offer the swim lessons and other community programming that we would want to be able to offer for a community of our size.”
NACS officially partners with Fort Wayne Swim to help bring a new natatorium, referendum to follow
FWSW is partnering with the North Allen Community Schools for this project. NACS will be contributing $38 million, the cost of a new high school natatorium. NACS’ current pool is outdated and cannot handle the volume of swimmers. Hench stated that Indiana Tech has shown interest in starting a swim team and utilizing the new aquatic center…