City Swimming With Proposals for Community Aquatics Center

Plans for a long-awaited community pool are far from complete, but at least three separate proposals to develop a multimillion-dollar aquatics center are expected to come before the City Council early next year.

Backers of Centerplex, a proposed $70-million minor league baseball stadium and entertainment center, are expected to launch their own feasibility study on a swim complex, possibly as soon as this month, city officials said.

Meanwhile, discussions are continuing over a competing proposal to develop an aquatics center at Buena High School. Proponents of that plan have said that they are close to an agreement with the city to build an Olympic-size pool and a 25-meter-deep diving pool on land south of campus.

However, city leaders say that no single plan has emerged as a leading contender.

“There’s at least three proposals that are being circulated informally,” City Manager Donna Landeros said.

The city has set aside about $4 million to construct a community pool, a longtime goal of Ventura officials. But a source is still needed to pay the estimated $250,000 in annual operating costs.

“How do you run from year to year?” asked Mayor Tom Buford. “That is the key element.”

Centerplex proponents have suggested using profits from their development to support the operation of a community pool, which according to their plan would be built with city funds next to a massive sports center west of the Ventura Auto Center.

In addition to the aquatics center, developers want to build a minor league baseball stadium, a golf driving range, a race car hall of fame and sports-related retail stores.

In July, the City Council refused to spend $5 million for a minority share of the sports center. Centerplex backers are confident a development agreement with the city can eventually be reached.

“Centerplex is alive and kicking,” said Beverly J. Benton, a consultant representing the developer. Benton said representatives for developer John Hofer are “working to hammer out a deal the city can live with.”

A proposal to build a community pool and recreation center on east Ventura farmland is on hold until after the Nov. 7 election because of twin measures that would prohibit the City Council from approving zoning changes to farmland.

Supporters of the Buena High School site want to build an aquatics center on the south end of campus on Wake Forest Avenue. It would house an existing shallow lap pool, a proposed 50-by-25-meter competition pool, and a 25-meter-deep diving pool.

Their proposal would have to be approved by the Ventura Unified School District and the City Council, and faces the same problem as the other sites: devising a way to pay annual operating costs.

But like the Centerplex developers, Buena High supporters are confident they can come up with a viable proposal.

“There is a tremendous need in the community for aquatics facilities,” said Jim McConica, a Ventura businessman and world-class swimmer who is pushing for a community pool.

McConica said he hopes to hand a polished proposal to high school officials within the next month.

“If we can do that and not run into hurdles, we can go to the school board shortly thereafter,” he said. “If the school board can give us an agreement in concept, we can go before the City Council.”

Despite the competing proposals, McConica said there is no animosity between him and John Hofer, the developer of Centerplex. McConica said he and Hofer have talked about the need for a community pool and agreed to help each other once a plan is approved by the City Council.

“We’re competing, yes, but it is not adversarial,” McConica said. “The first priority is to get a pool in the ground.”