A draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the proposed Belmont Pool Revitalization Project has been released for public review. Public comments on the EIR and the project will be accepted through June 16, according to city staff.

 

The $103 million project involves building a replacement to the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool, which was demolished last year due to substandard seismic and structural conditions that posed safety risks to the public.

 

The new Belmont Pool facility at 4000 E. Olympic Plaza is being designed to be a “landmark structure that would showcase a state-of-the-art facility intended to reflect the community’s commitment to recreational and competitive aquatics,” according to the draft EIR.

 

Elevations show that the new pool structure includes a “bubble,” a translucent cover, over the main arena that houses the indoor pools and permanent indoor bleachers.

 

The 71-foot-high bubble structure would be “an elliptical shaped dome, comprised of a web of structural steel, in-filled with ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) plastic, creating a continuous shell over the competition pool,” according to the draft EIR. Although the ETFE material is “self-cleaning,” the city plans to engage the manufacturer for periodic inspections and cleaning through an extended warranty and maintenance program.

 

The new Belmont Pool facility would also include a mezzanine, a 1,500 square-foot outdoor café, public restrooms and an outdoor recreational pool.

 

In October 2014, the city council allocated the $103.1 million for the project, which will be funded through the city’s Tidelands Fund.

 

A closer look at the project will be included in the May 10 edition of the Business Journal.