FORT BLISS, Texas (Dec. 8, 2011) -- The East Fort Bliss town circle area will have a new swimming facility within the next 12 to 14 months. The timeline may seem reasonable to the casual observer, but for Eric R. Hildreth, community recreation director for East Fort Bliss, it's been a long time coming, and he couldn't be more pleased.
"I'm very excited about this. We started early in the 1990s trying to get a pool built," said Hildreth. "Again, in 2001 we were looking at the possibility of a pool. There were also several other delays that involved availability of funds. The contract wasn't awarded until the last 10 days of this last fiscal period (September 2010). I think this is a great finish for this area of the town center."
Members of Team Bliss and the El Paso community held a ground-breaking ceremony Nov. 29 to begin construction on the project.
There are two pools at West Fort Bliss, both of which are more than 50 years old: Replica Aquatic Center and the Community Pool. This will be the first pool at East Fort Bliss when it opens.
"It will be 12 or 13 months depending on how the weather holds out; then we'll be looking for a ribbon-cutting," Hildreth said. "The overall cost for the project will be $15.5 million. That involves the total project. Life usage of a pool is 50 years, if one gets that much usage out of it they've done well.
"The pools will be open every day of every month," he added. "What we've tried to accomplish with this complex is it will be available for physical and mission training during the day. Then, it'll be turned over for recreational needs."
Hildreth described novel features of the new pool.
"The programming of the pool is designed to accommodate everything from kayaking to water polo. There will be … an Olympic-sized, eight-lane pool; a multi-purpose pool with a depth ranging … to 4 feet deep where one can do water aerobics. It tapers out to a depth of 8 feet that leads to a 12-foot climbing wall, for fun or physical training," he said.
The pool will be able to reach a temperature of 92 degrees Fahrenheit rapidly. It will accommodate aquatic rehabilitation. There will be two other pools with varying temperatures for swimming. The facility will facilitate "drown-proofing" for Soldiers, an exercise where they jump off a 3-meter platform and assemble a flotation device from their Army combat uniforms.
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