YMCA to break ground on $16 million aquatics center in Wilmington
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The YMCA of Southeastern North Carolina will break ground next month on a more than $16 million aquatics center featuring a 50-meter competition pool at the Nir Family YMCA in Wilmington.
A community groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 16, with construction expected to take approximately 12 months. The new aquatics center is expected to open in late 2027.
The indoor facility will feature a 10-lane, 50-meter pool with a movable bulkhead, allowing it to accommodate both long-course and short-course competitive swimming.
Plans also call for a dedicated entrance and lobby, locker rooms, restrooms, concessions and a multipurpose room.
A mezzanine overlooking the pool will provide seating for more than 500 spectators, and approximately 120 additional parking spaces will be added to the YMCA campus.
“This project represents what is possible when families, foundations and community partners come together around a shared vision,” YMCA of Southeastern North Carolina President and CEO Dick Jones said.
The YMCA says the additional pool space will be used for competitive swimming, swim lessons, water safety education, adaptive aquatics, adult fitness and other community programs.
The facility is also expected to provide additional space for high school swim teams, Special Olympics athletes and first responders conducting deep-water training.
The expansion will support the YMCA’s Schools in Pools initiative, which provides swimming instruction and water safety education to local second graders. The YMCA currently partners with New Hanover County Schools, YWCA Lower Cape Fear and NSEA Swim on the program, with a goal of reaching students from all 26 elementary schools in the county.
The project is being supported by investments from the Nir family, New Hanover Community Endowment, Waves of Wilmington and other community partners.
Waves of Wilmington plans to use the new facility as its home and says the additional pool space will provide more opportunities for practices and larger competitive swim meets.
“The addition of the 50 meter pool will greatly improve competitive opportunities in the community by increasing the offerings currently available, allowing more reasonable practice times for families, and enabling the hosting of larger scale meet weekends,” Waves of Wilmington CEO and Head Coach David Sokolofsky said.
Becker Morgan Group is designing the facility, while Monteith Construction will handle construction.
Jones said the project is intended to serve people with a range of ages, abilities and aquatic needs.
“This is much bigger than building another pool,” Jones said. “It is about creating opportunities for a child to learn a lifesaving skill, for a student-athlete to compete close to home, for an adult to stay healthy and active, and for people of different ages, abilities and backgrounds to find a place where they belong.”
