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CITYWIDE POOL ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGIC OPTIONS FOR AQUATICS FACILITIES
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RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that City Council provide direction to staff regarding future investment in City aquatics facilities.
Three options are presented:
1. Repair the pools to meet minimum code compliance.
2. Modernize Brooking Park, Holiday Park, Oak Park, Sherwood Park, and Sousa Park pools.
3. Decommission Brooking Park, Holiday Park, Sherwood Park, and Sousa Park pools, and consolidate resources into the design of Oak Park Pool as a regional aquatics complex, while operating McKinley and Victory Park pools, and the high school pools in partnership with local districts. Future funding would be needed for the construction.
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Summary
The City of Stockton owns or operates seven public swimming pools, most of which were constructed decades ago and now face widespread code compliance, safety, and operational challenges.
Independent studies conducted in 2018 and updated in 2024 identify urgent needs for repair and modernization. The City has completed modernization projects at McKinley and Victory Park Pools. However, significant direction decisions remain regarding the long-term direction of the aquatics system.
Staff has prepared three strategic options for City Council’s consideration, ranging from minimum code repair to full modernization or consolidated investment.
DISCUSSION
Background
The City of Stockton’s public pools have historically served as neighborhood seasonal plunge pools, offering limited recreational swimming and basic swim lessons during the summer months. None of the City’s pools are currently heated, and most lack ADA-compliant access and modern features. The 2018 Aquatics Assessment Study and the 2024 Pool Needs Assessment Update documented extensive deficiencies across all facilities, including chemical storage, filtration, mechanical systems, fencing, and ADA accessibility. Community and Facility assessment surveys conducted in 2018, 2021, and 2024 consistently identified strong demand for modern aquatics facilities, particularly heated, year-round centers with splashpads, water aerobics, swim lessons, and opportunities for competitive swimming and water polo.
Present Situation
The City of Stockton is at a decision point regarding its aquatics system. The existing pools continue to face widespread code compliance issues, aging infrastructure, and limited programming capacity. Staff have identified three strategic options for moving forward.
The first option is to complete minimum repairs at Brooking Park, Holiday Park, Oak Park, Sherwood Park, and Sousa Park pools to bring them into code compliance. This would address the most pressing liability concerns at the lowest upfront cost and retain every neighborhood pool for community use. However, the facilities would remain outdated, unheated, and limited in programming capacity, while high maintenance and operational costs would continue.
The second option is to fully modernize Brooking Park, Holiday Park, Oak Park, Sherwood Park, and Sousa Park pools by adding heating systems, ADA-compliant features, new amenities, and capabilities to support both recreational and competitive uses. A detailed list of these items can be found in Attachment A - Stockton Pool Needs Assessment. This approach would provide equitable aquatics access across the City and align with community demand for year-round programming. The drawback of this option is that it carries the highest capital and operational costs and would require a long construction timeline and significant ongoing subsidies to sustain operations.
The third option is to consolidate investment by Brooking Park, Holiday Park, Sherwood Park, and Sousa Park pools and focus resources on the design development of Oak Park Pool as a regional aquatics complex. To preserve broad access, the City would continue to operate McKinley and Victory Park Pool and also work with the local school districts to make the pools available to the public during certain durations of the year. The potential high school pools are at Bear Creek, Chavez, Edison, Franklin, McNair, Stagg, and Weston Ranch. This strategy would create a modern destination facility with stronger cost-recovery potential and greater long-term sustainability, aligning with industry trends toward fewer but higher-quality aquatic centers. However, it would result in the loss of several neighborhood pools in addition to requiring a significant upfront investment for an Oak Park Aquatics Complex.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
Option 1 - Code Compliance Only:
The cost to address urgent code and safety issues at all five pool facilities in need (Brooking, Holiday, Oak, Sherwood, and Sousa) is approximately $4,644,465 in direct construction costs and soft costs (design, contingency, inspection)
Option 2 - Modernize Pools:
Full modernization of five pool facilities in need (Brooking, Holiday, Oak, Sherwood, and Sousa), including new finishes, heating, ADA upgrades, decks, mechanical systems, and expanded amenities, is estimated at $32,131,475 in addition to the costs in Option 1, totaling $36,775,940.
Option 3 - Consolidated Oak Park Aquatics Complex, McKinley and Victory Park Pools, and High School Pools:
Decommissioning Brooking, Holiday, Sherwood, and Sousa would avoid approximately $26,882,697; in repair ($3,938,725) and modernization costs ($22,943,975). In addition, the City would realize an annual maintenance cost savings of approximately $130,000. Consolidating potential resources toward the design development of a new Oak Park Aquatics Complex, designed as a year-round regional facility. Under this option, the City would continue to operate McKinley and Victory Park Pools and would also work with the local school districts to make the pools available to the public during certain durations of the year, which would require ongoing operational investment.
Attachment A - Stockton Pool Needs Assessment