forums.usms.org/.../image.tiff
A lot of us have fond memories related to this place. Please help us restore this iconic location to swimming glory! Wouldn't it be great to have another Masters Nationals here?
Please share with EVERY swimmer you know worldwide!!!
The legendary Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Facility is in jeopardy of soon becoming history. We need your help and advocacy efforts to prevent this from happening. If this facility is to be saved and rebuilt to meet today’s standards for a word-class facility, swimmers and divers world-wide MUST SPEAK UP! The Fort Lauderdale City Commission will make a final decision on the fate of the Aquatic Facility at their City Commission meeting this Tuesday, December 1st which begins at 6:00pm. To date, a small group of advocates have kept the project alive. However, the final vote will be taken and if we are to succeed, everyone must inundate the Fort Lauderdale City Commission with e-mails of support for the Aquatic Complex.
For more than 12 years, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission had been pursuing plans for rebuilding the Aquatic Facility. Now that costs have escalated and other projects seem to take priority, the Aquatic Facility has been relegated to a low priority and perhaps scratched in its entirety with the land being repurposed for other uses. We cannot allow this to happen.
There are numerous opportunities to help offset construction and operating costs. Municipal governments world-wide have been engaging in public/private partnerships to make development and facility operations affordable. To date, the City has not discussed this as an option although a number of advocates from the Aquatic Facility have made the suggestion.
You can make a difference by writing to the City Mayor, Commissioners and the City Manager to express your feelings about the importance of the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center. E-mail addresses are as follows:
Mayor Jack Seiler: jack.seiler@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Bruce Roberts: broberts@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Dean Trantalis: dtrantalis@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Romney Rogers: rrogers@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Robert McKinzie: rmckinzie@fortlauderdale.gov
City Manager Lee Feldman: lfeldman@fortlauderdale.gov
forums.usms.org/.../image.tiff
A lot of us have fond memories related to this place. Please help us restore this iconic location to swimming glory! Wouldn't it be great to have another Masters Nationals here?
Please share with EVERY swimmer you know worldwide!!!
The legendary Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Facility is in jeopardy of soon becoming history. We need your help and advocacy efforts to prevent this from happening. If this facility is to be saved and rebuilt to meet today’s standards for a word-class facility, swimmers and divers world-wide MUST SPEAK UP! The Fort Lauderdale City Commission will make a final decision on the fate of the Aquatic Facility at their City Commission meeting this Tuesday, December 1st which begins at 6:00pm. To date, a small group of advocates have kept the project alive. However, the final vote will be taken and if we are to succeed, everyone must inundate the Fort Lauderdale City Commission with e-mails of support for the Aquatic Complex.
For more than 12 years, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission had been pursuing plans for rebuilding the Aquatic Facility. Now that costs have escalated and other projects seem to take priority, the Aquatic Facility has been relegated to a low priority and perhaps scratched in its entirety with the land being repurposed for other uses. We cannot allow this to happen.
There are numerous opportunities to help offset construction and operating costs. Municipal governments world-wide have been engaging in public/private partnerships to make development and facility operations affordable. To date, the City has not discussed this as an option although a number of advocates from the Aquatic Facility have made the suggestion.
You can make a difference by writing to the City Mayor, Commissioners and the City Manager to express your feelings about the importance of the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center. E-mail addresses are as follows:
Mayor Jack Seiler: jack.seiler@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Bruce Roberts: broberts@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Dean Trantalis: dtrantalis@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Romney Rogers: rrogers@fortlauderdale.gov
Commissioner Robert McKinzie: rmckinzie@fortlauderdale.gov
City Manager Lee Feldman: lfeldman@fortlauderdale.gov
Done. I hope our late responses help. I visited the pool a few months ago after nearly 25 years since I swam there last and I was horrified how far the once great facility had fallen. It still has that feel to it but it is definitely in desperate need of some TLC and some $'s. Good luck.
Done. I hope our late responses help. I visited the pool a few months ago after nearly 25 years since I swam there last and I was horrified how far the once great facility had fallen. It still has that feel to it but it is definitely in desperate need of some TLC and some $'s. Good luck.
Thanks for your interest! I can't tell you how desperate this situation is. It's so good to know that others really understand how important it is to return this iconic complex to its former grandeur!
Oh wow. I actually got a response from one of the commissioner assistants. Below is my email to them, and the response.
Dan
-----------------------------------------
Dan -- Thank you for your letter about the aquatic center. I will make sure that Commissioner Trantalis sees your thoughts before tomorrow's meeting. The commission is considering the termination of the contract involving the reconstruction of the facility as a result of recent price increases from the developer. However, commissioners have said that if they do terminate this particular contract, they still want the city manager to come back with a slimmed-down plan that would renovate the facility and its pools.
Scott Wyman
Commission Assistant
City Commissioner Dean Trantalis - District 2
100 N. Andrews Ave.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
954-828-5923
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Force
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2015 8:34 PM
To: Jack Seiler; Bruce G. Roberts; Dean Trantalis; Romney Rogers; Robert McKinzie; Lee Feldman
Subject: International Swimming Hall of Fame Aquatic Complex
Dear Mayor, Commissioners, and City Manager,
News of the potential closing and destruction of the International Swimming Hall of Fame aquatic complex is devastating. As a swimmer myself, I have always sought out the pools there for a workout when visiting Fort Lauderdale. Being able to literally immerse oneself in the rich history of the complex is a treat for us every-day swimmers. Please do the right thing and prevent this historic complex from being closed and destroyed.
Sincerely,
Daniel Force
Portsmouth, RI
Swoomer, sent this a few minutes ago, hope it helps:
Dear Mayor Seiler; Commissioners Roberts, Trantalis, Rogers, and McKenzie; and City Manager Feldman;
I’m writing to you concerning the restoration of the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. I’ve been a competitive swimmer since the mid-1950s and I’m a long-time admirer of your facility. Regrettably, although I’ve seen many swimming events at the complex on TV, I’ve never had the chance to swim at your facility. More recently, I’ve tried to follow your progress towards restoration and read articles about the relocation of the ISHOF and your valiant efforts to restore the complex.
I am a practicing civil engineer (and geologist too) for more than 40 years and perhaps as importantly, an elected Councilman in the City of Woodbury, NJ. Woodbury is a much smaller municipality than Ft. Lauderdale and far less well known. Our City dates back to the 1600s; our founder Henry Wood from Bury England (hence “Woodbury”) fled to the colonies seeking religious freedom. He somehow managed to sail up our “Woodbury Creek” from the Delaware River and build his home among the Quakers, Germans, Swedes, and Native Americans in southern New Jersey. As you might imagine, the City has many historic structures. We are constantly attempting to balance historic preservation with the need to modernize and redevelop our community. In these tough economic times all municipalities have gone through, we are struggling more than ever to simply make ends meet and to continue to preserve our past.
In a somewhat parallel situation, the City of Woodbury just lost one of its oldest recreational facilities, the Woodbury Country Club and golf course. It was an historic fixture in our City dating back over 100 years, among the first such clubs in the nation, the location for our High School golf team, and host for many social events for over a century. However, after numerous attempts to save this historic recreational facility over more than 5 years while it lay dormant, we were unsuccessful. Permanent losses of such historic municipal spaces are very sad, indeed. We’ve lost an irreplaceable part of our history and community.
I’m hoping that the City of Fort Lauderdale will fare better than the City of Woodbury did, and that you will find a way to restore the aquatic complex. I know how tough it is for a governing body to make these decisions and wish you the best in your attempt to restore the complex. If there is a way to avoid losing such connections to your history, I encourage you to take advantage of it.
And, let me know if I can be of any help.
Take Care,
Bill Fleming,
Councilman, City of Woodbury, NJ
Lauderdale won't build new swimming complex
Full story:
www.sun-sentinel.com/.../fl-lauderdale-aquatic-contract-vote-20151201-story.html
RDC proposed cutting out about $5 million in work to bring the price down, but commissioners decided they would be better off renovating existing pools instead of taking money from other beach projects to cover the higher costs. City staff will now explore what it will take to renovate the current complex.
Mayor Jack Seiler said the commission's decision won't mean the end of a competitive swimming facility on the site. The site hosted numerous national and international events over the years, but not since its bleachers were condemned in 2011. Visiting teams continue to train at the center.
"I'm not pulling the plug on swimming or diving. I just think we need to do it in a more cost-efficient manner," Seiler said.
The city has already spent close to $3 million in design work and other planning for the new complex. City officials have said a renovation project could be as costly as new construction because the existing swimming and diving pools have to be lengthened, widened and deepened to meet current international competition regulations.
Lauderdale won't build new swimming complex
Full story:
www.sun-sentinel.com/.../fl-lauderdale-aquatic-contract-vote-20151201-story.html
The headline is totally misleading. The plan is to work to renovate the existing complex to current swimming and diving competition standards, within the given budget, rather than rebuild the entire complex. The project is definitely alive and moving forward, but in a different direction.
