Westminster’s Swim & Fitness Center, nestled at 3290 West 76th Avenue, is the city’s longest-standing recreation center. For nearly 50 years, the facility has been a second home for residents in Historic Westminster interested in swimming activities, offering eight swimming lanes, a diving board, and a deep diving well. As the needs of residents have changed over the facility’s near five-decade lifespan, Westminster Parks, Recreation & Libraries (PRL) staff were eager to refresh a community favorite while adapting the aging building to modern times.
In August 2024, Westminster welcomed residents into a new and improved Swim & Fitness Center, updated to accommodate the needs of changing city demographics and desires. Excited residents entered through a new entrance on the west end of the building, now equally accessible from both parking lots. Just inside the door, sunlight now paints the entire lobby decorated with modern furniture, creating an open and welcoming space. Residents immediately noticed the improvements.
“I come here about three days a week,” said Young Chun, a Swim & Fitness Center regular. “Westminster has the best facilities as far as I have seen.”
In addition to the relocated lobby, Swim & Fitness Center now sports a cardio deck and weight room with fitness equipment. The pool area was painted and received some mechanical upgrades to enhance water quality and minimize operational costs. Guests can also enjoy new tile and wood in the renovated steam and sauna rooms.
George Miller, a Westminster resident who lives a stone’s throw away, comes by every day to use the hot tub, steam room, and to cool off in the pool.
“I’m really looking forward to the weight room. I don’t want to get big, I just want to stay healthy and tone up,” said Miller. “The other thing that draws me is the free breakfast for kids, with the [summer] lunch program, because where I live there are four kids, and I bring them over here to swim and have breakfast. This helps out the community all the way around.”
The project is a “comprehensive overhaul,” assured Kira Kloser, PRL’s recreation facilities superintendent. Excited about the new opportunities for residents, she continued: “Our new and upgraded community room has a capacity of about 60 to 80 and allows us to host fitness classes. We expect to have about 17 classes in total.”
Broadening the uses and offerings of Swim & Fitness Center was the City’s goal, but that couldn’t be addressed before an important overarching consideration.
“Accessibility was really the emphasis of this project,” Kloser said. Before all the cosmetic improvements came the more crucial technical ones. ADA designated parking spaces and sidewalk ramps were implemented in the parking lot and careful care was taken to accommodate short travel distances from the parking lot to the lobby, then again from the lobby to amenities.
“When buildings, just like houses, were built in the 1970s, accessibility wasn’t exactly top of mind,” reflected Tim Lachermeirer, PRL’s recreation services manager. “When you came into the main level of the facility, there were no activities or programming on the [main] level and so you had to take stairs.”
To alleviate the need for stairs, staff engaged the public with a plan to reorient the main lobby of the building. This shift in floor plan allowed the City to replace the existing single-person wheelchair lift with an elevator that services every floor of the facility. Residents can now also get from a car directly to the pool without changing levels.
The improvements are a point of pride for Deb Larsen, PRL’s recreation supervisor. “We are the heart of Historic Westminster,” she said. Larsen made special note that adding amenities to an already beloved pool facility transformed Swim & Fitness Center into a "one-stop-shop."
Construction on the six-million dollar modernization, partially funded by a million- dollar Adams County grant, began in 2023. Combined with Capital Improvement Project funds, the Swim & Fitness Center marks a significant investment to revitalize one of the city’s oldest facilities.
“We continue to invest in the facilities and programs in Historic Westminster,” said Lachermeier. “We felt an importance to meet the changing demographics of the city, and really believe we can continue doing that into the future with all of the ADA accessibility improvements.”
A grand opening and 50th anniversary celebration event at Swim & Fitness Center is scheduled for September 12, 2024, construction permitting. Visit the Swim and Fitness webpage here for the most up-to-date information on the celebration event.