CEDO

Burlington Community Aquatics Center

Aquatics in Motion Development Group, LLC
Proposal Score: 60.3

Burlington Community Aquatics Center Proposal
Burlington Community Aquatics Center Design Documents

Public Comments

I really hope the City helps this great idea find a home!

While swimming is doubtless a life skill, an aquatic center is a chemical and energy intensive installation on valuable property, and it is a luxury when we live in a northern climate. Considering the proposal from ECHO, and the City's stance on energy-efficiency, this is an oxymoron for the proposed waterfront location. This facility is akin to an indoor ski arena in Dubai - is that the message we're sending? I urge reconsideration of waterfront resources.

Love, love the idea but hope the City finds a better spot in our community to give it the visibility and location it deserves. We need places for kids to gather and enjoy great indoor sports after school in the winter...and that's about 6 months of the school year.

This is a great idea for Burlington. We need an aquatics center. How about a more central location like downtown or Pine Street somewhere? My two kids are swimmers and I'd love for them to be able to swim in a new pool that's well maintained. Having a great aquatics center is not emulating any other city. Having this project in Burlington will only enrich the Burlington experience for many people!

When you think of world-class waterfronts do you think of swimming complexes? Swimming pools are excellent community assets, but by their very nature they don't need to be located on the water's edge. Proposals for the waterfront need to allow all demographics the ability to enjoy the splendor of Lake Champlain.
I can appreciate the thoughts of the other comments about other pools but as a competitive swimmer myself, I can say that Burlington sorely needs a new aquatics center! The pools in this area are tired and old, not competition size and poorly maintained. A pump house would be great; I could swim while my older kids are playing in the pool. If this project doesn't make it to the waterfront, I sure hope we find another place for it in Burlington.

There are several competitive clubs already in the Chittenden county area, both for summer leagues and USA sanctioned swim clubs that compete year-round. This could harm these smaller businesses that have been, for the most part, doing well. The potential growth for competitive swimming with a 10-lane competition pool as suggested is very limited as there are already several teams in the area. If it does grow, it will be at the expense of other clubs in the area. The pump house idea is a great idea, but differences that could set it apart from Jay Peak should be considered. I agree with the fact that we should not emulate White River Jct. We have great restaurants here, great sports teams, plenty of swim club operations, let's travel down the entertainment path! The echo center, an educational and community operated area, right next to a recreational area, all themed around water, sounds fun! Keep some space for lap swimming, but it should not be a majority of the space, nor focus.

Some aspects of this proposal are intriguing but others need adjustment. Seizing on what another commenter suggested, I think this facility would be better served to emulate the Pump House water park at Jay and make entertainment it's focus. Including competition facilities would be fine but I believe more people would be attracted to a waterfront, year-round water park with incredible views than a standard community pool. If it's just going to be a standard community pool why does it need to be located on prime waterfront real estate? Lake Champlain is something of a community pool during the warm months itself.

A nice idea, but does it need to be on the waterfront? Are there better uses of this land that need to have access to the water? Does this take too much land away from the sailing center and limit their future growth?

I greatly appreciate the final round of designs for the waterfront - enhanced marina facilities, new restaurants and retail, and more activities at ECHO and the outdoor park are all very meaningful to my family. I would like to call out, however, our superior excitement in an aquatics facility that includes indoor waterpark fun for kids all year round! We swim at the YMCA many times a week but a larger facility with slides and more would be excellent. The Jay Peak indoor water park - Pump House - is a great example of activities for the family - if you haven't seen this facility I would recommend a visit. Instead of a 1.5 hour drive, we would greatly prefer instead to walk down to the waterfront to swim and play in all seasons.

Sort of like bringing a sandwich to a banquet. Also, as a permanent, single-purpose entity, there'd be limited likelihood for on-going generation of varying events/activities that would appeal to a broader spectrum of the region's population.

This looks like a step backward for Burlington - I understand economic development, but this does not set us apart as a city. Why would we want to emulate White River Junction?