Take a 1st look at Pasco Aquatic Center plans. These are the amenities they chose

Pasco Aquatic Center leaders are getting a first look at what their facility might look like this week.

Plans for the aquatic center began moving quickly once a land purchase was finalized last month. Now contractors have given the Pasco Public Facilities District board a look at architectural renderings, amenities, floor plans and a timeline.

The report was presented to board members ahead of their regular monthly meeting this week.

The first phase of the aquatic center is going to come in at $37.5 million and will likely open at the end of April 2026.

The more than 100-page plan will ensure the board and the taxpayers get their money’s worth, PFD Director Matt Watkins said in a social media post.

“The PFD Board of Directors are excited to review the long-awaited ‘Validation Report’ for our new aquatics facility,” Watkins wrote. “We’ve been working hard on it since the beginning of 2024 and validation is a critical step in the process to ensuring we spend $37M right ... the first time.”

Amenities

The question on everyone’s mind has been, what will the community get out of the facility? The answer is a lot more than just the basics that sold voters on the new sales tax in 2022 .

While the aquatic center isn’t technically a water park, the board will vote on moving forward with a plan with more than a dozen exciting tentative amenities.

The board previously told contractor Bouten Construction that they want to go with the option for the largest interior space to allow for more year-round use. They’ll be starting with 7 acres of the 13-acre property they approved buying last month.

NAC Architecture is overseeing the design portion and created the renderings provided to the board.

The PFD agreed to pay $4.7 million for the land, which is set to be part of a larger municipal campus in West Pasco.

The indoor portion of the center will clock in at a total of about 33,000 square feet with a 12,000-square-foot interior that features a 3-lane 25-yard lap pool, which is interconnected to other amenities.

There also will be a lazy river, a vortex and social alcove off the river, and a children’s water play area with zero-depth entry.

Two huge water slides are planned. There’s also a hot tub-type pool that will open to the outside.

The outside pool area will feature another children’s water play area with zero-depth entry which leads into a water basketball pool.

Also connected to that pool will be a wave-ball court, a climbing wall and a mini ninja course.

There will be many picnic tables and chairs around the outdoor pool. The initial outdoor area pool comes in at 4,700 square feet.

The plans have indoor and outdoor concession areas, three meeting rooms, changing rooms and a life guard room.

There will be 140 parking spots, food truck parking and a shared pedestrian plaza as part of a larger planned municipal campus.

That’s just Phase 1 .

Phase 2 will include a competition pool with spectator seating, two beach volleyball courts and pickleball courts.

Other possibilities could include a floating obstacle course, a jump platform and LED screens. Some amenities proposed by the public, but not yet under consideration, are a flowrider, bowl slide, rope swing, family water slide and a drop slide.

The building will be situated with large glass walls facing toward the Columbia River with a view of the ridgelines .

Phase 2 could also add additional outdoor pools as well as a third water slide that feeds outside, if approved by the board.

When does construction start?

The design process has already begun and with approval to move forward given this week, Bouten will immediately begin the technical work needed to apply for permits. They hope to have environmental impact and early site permits approved by the end of November.

Early site work will kick off the first week of December with utilities and sewer work expected in January.

Foundations will be poured at the end of April and the building will go up and the pools will go in over the next year.

The public facilities district and the city of Pasco’s management team will take ownership of the facility at the end of February 2026 and begin training for a tentatively scheduled April 24, 2026 opening day.

Over the course of the next two years, Pasco will also be extending roadways, beginning with the Sandifur Parkway extension into the Broadmoor Development and the new Road 108, which will run north to south from Harris Road to Burns Road.

The PFD meeting will be broadcast online at www.pasco-wa.gov/psctvlive or on the city’s Facebook page .