This occasional series explores Bellingham’s indoor recreation needs and how other cities have funded and built successful public centers. This story takes a look at two public facilities in Snohomish County.
Nearly 2,000 swimming lesson spots fill up in 10 minutes at Lynnwood Recreation Center.
Lynnwood Parks Director Joel Faber said that registering for a swim lesson is “harder than getting into the most popular rock concerts in the area.” The demand comes from both Lynnwood residents, and from the Northwest Washington region. As nearby pools closed down, Lynnwood became one of the few public options for people to learn how to swim.
The problem is familiar to people at Bellingham’s only public aquatic center, Arne Hanna. And in an area surrounded by water, learning how to swim is pretty important.
With significant community interest propelling efforts, the City of Bellingham is exploring options to increase access to pool space, swim lessons and indoor recreation more broadly. Inspiration exists both to the north, in British Columbia, and to the south, where a couple of cities have opened and maintained flourishing rec centers since the 2010s.
CDN staff toured two recreation centers in Snohomish County: Lynnwood Recreation Center and Snohomish Aquatic Center. Both facilities are well-used, but exemplify different functions and funding mechanisms.
Lynnwood Recreation Center
Lynnwood, Snohomish County
Facilities: Recreation pool with lazy river, lap pool, sauna, two hot tubs, warm water therapy pool, cardio/weight room, fitness studio, racquetball courts
Cost to construct: $25 million
Monthly visitors: ~48,000 a month
Fees: $7 for an adult single visit pass, $50 for an adult 10-visit pass for residents ($62.50 for non-residents), $520 for an adult annual resident pass ($651 for non-residents)
Demand for the Lynnwood Recreation Center hasn’t waned since it opened in 2011.
Before the center instituted online registration, people used to line up outside of the facility to get in.
“It never ceased to amaze me,” Faber said. Rain or shine, they would line up. It was like free advertising, he said.
The process to build the rec center, located at 18900 44th Ave. W in Lynnwood, started in 2007, with 17 outreach meetings throughout the city in 2008 and a project plan approved later that year. To pay for the $25 million center, the city took out councilmanic bonds, or bonds that don’t need to go to a public vote because the city’s general fund is healthy enough to pay back the bonds and the interest. Some utility tax streams also helped fund the project.
Faber said the concept probably went back to 2001, as the original facility the center replaced was built in 1976.
“It was kind of that time where either you reinvest in or you decommission, because it was cost prohibitive to try to continue to repair a lot of the parts and maintenance,” Faber said.
The facility was constructed during the recession, which in some ways helped the city. Construction was less expensive, and then when it was complete, they were able to hire people right out of the recession, Faber said.
Faber said as the 45,000-person city has continued to grow, as has demand. Closures of Snohomish County’s pool and nearby pools in Everett and Shoreline also increased use of Lynnwood’s center.
Lynnwood residents are now prioritized for swim lessons due to intense interest from people in the entire region, Faber said.
“Drowning is a leading cause [of death] for most children and it’s, in my opinion, completely preventable. Unfortunately, we can’t offer enough swim lessons to meet demand and it’s just the reality. So, I know there’s people that have tried for multiple years to get in. It’s just a challenge,” he said.
On the recreation side, the facility offers a range of fitness classes and even added a Spanish-speaking class due to community interest.
Faber said a successful rec center must be a “reflection” of the community and welcoming to all. Faber said it also helps to have a champion for a project like this, especially given how expensive facilities are to build. But the benefits are worth the investment.
“You’ll see pockets of people talking together and they’ve made a friendship coming to the pool for a gentle fitness class, for example … and those friendships then grow out of here,” Faber said. “Our whole purpose as a community center is to grow community.”
Snohomish Aquatic Center
Snohomish, Snohomish County
Facilities: Recreation pool with lazy river, competition pool, FlowRider, hot tub, slide
Cost to construct: $22.2 million
Monthly visitors: Staff did not have a monthly number available, but said there are around 100,000 drop-in admissions annually, plus 67 swim meets annually and 8,521 registered in swim and drive lessons annually.
Fees: $9 for drop-in open recreation swim, $7 for drop-in open fitness and lap swim, $168 for Snohomish resident 3-month Splash Pass ($210 for non-resident) and $537 for Snohomish resident annual pass ($672 for non-resident)
The Snohomish Aquatic Center provides a different model for comparison: an aquatic center built, owned and operated by a school district. Chris Bensen, the director of the facility, said the center operates at 94% cost recovery, and the school district subsidizes about $200,000 a year.
Toured by City of Bellingham officials, Bellingham Public Schools and the YMCA a few years back, this model focuses more on competition, but also provides swimming lessons, and community and recreational swimming to the Snohomish community and region.
The construction of the center was funded by school bonds. Approved in a 2008 ballot measure, the center opened in 2014, replacing an old pool the district had run that stopped operating in 2007, on the site of the school district’s former Maple Avenue Campus/Freshman Campus.
“The community really wanted a pool back, but it took seven years between that pool closing and this pool opening,” Bensen said.
The lack of a pool impacted the area: during that time, kids had to travel far to keep up with swim teams, club teams disbanded and there weren’t lifeguard training or swimming lessons in the areas, Bensen said.
The replacement project was a major upgrade from the original pool, Bensen said, now providing both space for community members to swim and a place for the school district’s two high school swim teams to practice.
The Snohomish Aquatic Center regularly hosts big meets in its 25-meter competition pool, with bleachers that seat 420 spectators.
“We can have an 800-swimmer meet at the same time and not cancel swim lessons,” Bensen said.
Beyond the competition side, the center has a FlowRider — a surf simulation machine — that attracts people from all over the country, Bensen said.
Balancing competitive and recreational needs is a challenge, but Bensen said they strive to provide both. Bensen walked around the facility, pointing out the young swimmers on the walls who went on to win big state meets. She also recounted the story of a community member with multiple sclerosis who came to the facility to swim, and now, doesn’t need a walker.
Bensen said a successful recreation center is based on community involvement and takes people coming together to invest in the center itself.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
