Wilmington Aquatic Center proposal highlights drowning prevention and Olympic potential amid funding push

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — We have an update on funding plans for a new aquatic center in Wilmington. 

“We’re looking to build a world-class facility here for aquatics,” says Kathleen Baker. 

That’s Olympic gold and silver medalist swimmer, and Wrightsville Beach resident, Kathleen Baker. 

She’s talking about the proposed Wilmington Aquatic Center, with renderings featuring Olympic-sized indoor and outdoor pools, as well as areas like a food hall and an all-inclusive ACCESS recreational center. 

“We’re a coastal city, and we don’t really have much pool space here,” said Baker. 

Baker is lending her name to the project, which will be built on this land at the Olsen Farm on Murrayville Road. 

The land was donated by property owners Peggy Olsen and Chip Hicks, who lost a childhood friend to drowning, and that’s what WAC Volunteer Director Kathy Pawlowski says led to the donation. 

“Always that loss has stayed with Chip, and he wants to do something in memory of Charles Walker,” said Pawlowski. 

A primary push for funding the facility is drowning prevention. 

“1 to 4, it’s the leading cause of death, and 5 to 14, it’s the second leading cause of death for children, and that’s a huge statistic, and that can be prevented with just one swim lesson; it has a huge help in helping kids learn how to swim and prevent drowning,” says Baker. 

The facility will not only teach people to swim but also has the potential to attract the sport’s best. 

“You know, you have a quality pool that would attract world-class athletes to move into the city to swim,” said David Marsh. 

David Marsh is a former USA Olympic swimming coach and won 12 national championships at Auburn.  

Marsh says a pool of this magnitude in the area will be another draw for tourists coming to Wilmington. 

“It would benefit greatly from the exposure of people actually experiencing, you know, the beautiful intracoastal waterways, and out on the outside, and the different restaurants that are coming in there,” said Marsh. 

Organizers hope that kind of lure will catapult funding for the project. 

While they are unsure how much it will take, they are hoping to complete the project by 2028. 

“It’s an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Wilmington,” said Pawlowski. 

For comparison, the Greensboro Aquatic Center, built in 2011 and later expanded, cost $27 million.