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Tomball ISD and LAN Celebrate Ribbon Cutting of New Aquatic Center

Tomball ISD and LAN Celebrate Ribbon Cutting of New Aquatic Center

Photo Credit: LAN

(HOUSTON) On Feb. 12, Tomball Independent School District (TISD) and Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN), the district’s program manager, celebrated the ribbon cutting of its new aquatic center.

The aquatic center is one of the projects that voters approved as part of Tomball ISD’s $275 million bond referendum in November 2017. Located on the Tomball Memorial High School campus, this 26,000-square-foot aquatic center will serve as a practice and training facility for TISD students to improve their swimming, diving and water polo skills.

“We are very proud of this state-of-the-art facility and the opportunities that it will provide for our students,” said Steven Gutierrez, Ed.D., TISD’s chief operating officer. “We thank our community for supporting the growth of the district with this facility and all of our business partners for making our vision become a reality.”

Designed by Stantec Inc. and constructed by Gamma Construction Company, the $10.56 million facility contains a 25-yard stretch pool with an eight-lane competitive swimming area and a diving area. The lanes can be adjusted via a movable bulkhead to accommodate a 25-yard course or a 15-lane cross course. The diving area has two one-meter boards, two three-meter boards and a three-meter platform. The facility seats 250 spectators and houses a 176-inch by 100-inch scoreboard, with an integrated electronic scoring and timing system. Support spaces include locker rooms to accommodate 100 athletes and coaches, a training room, equipment rooms and office areas.

The new aquatic center offers several features that are not found in a typical natatorium. These include a six-foot-wide movable bulkhead to separate different parts of the pool, a dedicated diving area, diving equipment with an overhead harness system to enhance training, a patented system by Paddock Pool Equipment to remove the chlorine fumes at the water surface, energy-efficient LED lighting that includes a special lighting system for the pool area to reduce glare and underwater lighting for additional visibility and safety, as well as eight underwater speakers that can be used for coaching instruction or music during training sessions.

“This is one of the best high school aquatic centers in the state,” said JP Grom, AIA, vice president of LAN, which served as the program manager for the bond program. “The design is state-of-the-art, and the amenities are great.”

Other major projects in the bond package include an elementary school, a junior high school, a district-wide athletic complex and an agricultural science project center for Tomball High School.

About LAN

LAN is a full-service consulting firm offering planning, engineering and program management services for the nation’s heavy civil infrastructure needs. With more than 350 employees across the United States, LAN is a national leader in the engineering industry and is consistently ranked among the “Top 100 A/E Firms” according to Engineering News-Record. LAN is a LEO A DALY company, an international architecture and engineering firm.