Opening of new Chisholm Aquatics Center is delayed

Several weeks of unfavorable weather during the winter means that the new Chisholm Aquatics Center won’t open in time for Memorial Day, but officials said families will still have lots of opportunities to enjoy the slides, diving boards and lazy river this summer.

While an opening date hasn’t been set, Deputy City Manager Allan Heindel said, work is progressing quickly after 42 days of delays brought on by rain, ice and snow.

“This was a very unusual winter for us,” he said.

The city is doing a complete $8 million makeover of the aquatics center after a study determined that it would be more cost-effective to demolish the center, which dates back to the 1990s, and rebuild it.

The new center’s features will include a deep pool with two diving boards, a large play area, slides, a pool for toddlers and cabanas.

“This will be a major asset for our community,” Heindel said.

The study also showed a need to renovate the city’s other facility, the Central Aquatics Center, which will close in September and reopen on Memorial Day 2016.

Heindel said Hurst was the first North Texas city to adopt the aquatics center concept, during the 1990s. Traditional swimming pools with diving boards were like “concrete boxes,” he said.

Hurst wanted to make improvements and didn’t want to compete with the private sector for building the more expensive water parks, he said.

This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Opening of new Chisholm Aquatics Center is delayed."