A long-desired aquatic centre project in the Grandview Heights area of South Surrey is moving along swimmingly and residents should expect to be able to make waves in less than two years at the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre.

With groundbreaking scheduled to begin later this fall, the new aquatic and recreation centre will feature all the amenities expected of a modern-day facility, including a 10-lane Olympic-sized pool, a family and leisure pool, water slides, diving towers and a weight room.

To be located at 24th Avenue and 168th Street, the facility has been something members of the Grandview community have been wanting for quite some time and something Coun. Linda Hepner said was a natural choice for the area.

"I think with a growing community I think everybody recognizes that leisure activities are important for young families and that's who lives here so we've had no complaints about the project," said Hepner, who also sits as chair on Surrey's park, recreation and sport committee.

According to Hepner, with several open houses held over the past few months, the last of which was held in June, the public has had plenty of chances to express themselves about the project.

The result? "We have heard from the entire swim community that it's a fabulous idea as well as residents in the Grandview area asking when they're going to have something with the growth that's going on there," said Hepner. "So we definitely hear that this is a pretty popular project."

Expected to come in at around $50 million, the facility's look was designed by Hughes Condon Marler Architects and will be able to host 900 spectators. Additionally, a second phase is expected to be added to the project sometime after its initial opening, which would add a warm-up pool to the facility in order to host international competitions.

"We actually tried to go out and get some more funding on top of the $50 million we have as part of our Build Surrey program and we got turned down," said Hepner on why the second phase pool wasn't included in initial construction. "We're still providing a whole bunch of stuff for the first phase.

"Generally speaking, people were really impressed and liked all of the features."

cpoon@thenownewspaper.com

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