Mayor Keller, Councilor Gibson Celebrate New Los Altos Pool with Community Members
Mayor Tim Keller and City Councilor Diane Gibson joined the Parks and Recreation Department and community members today to announce the highly anticipated re-opening of the historic Los Altos Pool. Over 15 months the facility has undergone a $6.6 million renovation. It will reopen to the public on Monday, March 11 – just in time for Spring Break!
“Families in the surrounding neighborhoods are going to make years of memories here,” stated Mayor Keller. “Facilities like this are just one part of our efforts to make sure kids can stay safe and engaged when they aren’t in school. Whether you’re doing laps, bringing the kids to swim lessons, or sharing in community events, you can come enjoy the pool starting on March 11. The timing couldn’t be better: the pool will be open for all those families looking for fun spring break activities.”
“We will be thrilled to have our Los Altos Pool back in service again!” stated City Councilor Diane Gibson. “Our Parks and Recreation Department has transformed a stunning design into a magnificent facility.”
“Los Altos is a spectacular new City pool that we are thrilled to unveil today,” stated Dave Simon, Director of Parks and Recreation. “Our staff and the contractors have worked hard over the past 15 months to deliver a state of the art facility that we hope families from across the City will enjoy. We invite everyone to come down to Los Altos and dive in!”
The City demolished over 10,000 square feet to make way for a new 18,000 square foot building. There is an upgraded 25-meter pool shell with ADA accessible points, more deck space for swim lessons and meets, larger lockers rooms and showers, and a multipurpose room for community events. The existing bathhouse was preserved to ensure the iconic wave architecture would be part of the new building.
Other features and amenities in the new Los Altos Pool:
- LED lighting throughout the facility
- New 97 percent efficient pool boiler
- Highly efficient air handling/dehumidification system that reclaims heat from the pool water to help condition the air space
- Tile mosaic installation in front foyer
- Blue stained concrete in the front foyer and locker breezeway
- Free City of Albuquerque WiFi
- Strategic natural light windows and material to increase energy efficiency
- New parking lot and infrastructure for a solar canopy to be installed at a future date
The project was designed by Architect Greer Stafford, and KL House served as the contractor.
Los Altos Pool History: The Los Altos Pool was built in 1959 as a nine lane outdoor competition pool, children’s pool, and diving tank. Due to its popularity, a building was erected around the pool in 1962, making it the first year-round public indoor pool in Albuquerque.
Since it opened, Los Altos has hosted lap swimming, recreational swimming, springboard diving, swimming lessons for all ages, water exercise and therapy classes, kayak classes, swim and water polo practices, and competitions. Los Altos has remained the second-busiest swimming facility within the City’s Aquatics Division, averaging more than 75,000 annual users.