Rebuild Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool

Rebuild Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool In 2013 Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool was permanently closed due to seismic concerns. Let's work together to see it rebuilt to again be the Best in the West!

Well, that dream died. We are still waiting to see if a fairly nice community pool will be built.

A huge THANK YOU to all who attended last night's City Council meeting, sent emails, and made comments verbally and onli...
01/21/2026

A huge THANK YOU to all who attended last night's City Council meeting, sent emails, and made comments verbally and online asking the City Council to approve Agenda Item #26 for the Belmont Plaza Aquatics Center. An extra special thanks to all the Rocketfish swimmers (many of whom spoke, asking the Council for approval!), nnd their parents, plus 5-time Olympian tony Azevedo with some of his 908 water polo players, who also were there ).

IT WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE COUNCIL!

The approval covered the proposed construction contract, construction manager, and financing plan, as presented by the City Manager, Public Works team, and Parks, Recreation and Marine team. Construction is expected to begin around the middle of this year, with completion anticipated in mid-2028.

The picture is of the approved design.

01/19/2026

Here is the link to the 60-page presentation city staff has made available in advance of the City Council meeting on Tuesday, January 20.
https://longbeach.primegov.com/viewer/preview?id=90044&type=2

If you would like a PDF copy, click on the print or download icons at the top right under the words Sign In.

01/14/2026

Here is the link to the staff report that will be presented to the Council on the 20th. https://longbeach.primegov.com/viewer/preview?id=89960&type=2

The report includes a detailed recounting of the history of the project since the original BPOP was permanently closed in February 2013.

If you have questions, please post them as responses here, and we'll do our best to find the answers for you.

01/14/2026

At long last, some good news!

Today Tom Modica, LB City Manager, sent the following email to all members of the original Advisory Committee for the rebuilding of the Belmont Plaza pool.

"We would like to share an important milestone for the Belmont Pool project as you have been so involved from the beginning on this important project. After an extended period of evaluation, redesign, and financial analysis, City staff have completed the work necessary to advance the project. Staff will be bringing forward a recommendation to the Long Beach City Council on January 20, 2026, to recommend an award of a construction contract to Bernards Bros., Inc. for construction of the Belmont Pool.

This recommendation reflects the culmination of significant technical, financial, and programmatic efforts to deliver a viable and enduring aquatics facility while thoughtfully addressing the challenges that have shaped the project over the past several years. The project before the City Council honors the City’s aquatics legacy, supports competitive programming, and creates an inviting, welcoming, and inspiring facility where children and youth of all ages can learn to swim, play, and ultimately thrive.

The revised project was approved by the California Coastal Commission in October 2025 and better aligns with the City’s current funding realities. The team is proud to present a project with a comprehensive operations and maintenance program that is appropriately staffed with dedicated maintenance and custodial staff, while also setting aside funding for equity training and public access initiatives. With the difficult choices that were made, the project before you represents the most fiscally sustainable alternative that has been developed.

I would like to personally thank you for your voice, tenacity, and unwavering support throughout this process. I hope you will join me on January 20 for this important discussion and milestone.

You are among the first to know as you have been so intricately involved in this project. Councilmember Duggan and I wanted to very much thank you and make sure you were hearing directly from us. Tonight is the State of the City and the Mayor will be talking about this news, and then we will be sharing with our larger stakeholder list as well. Hope to see you January 20th if you can make it!

Agenda Item:
Here is the link to the agenda item. A fuller presentation will be available on Friday."

https://longbeach.primegov.com/viewer/preview?id=89960&type=2

The agenda item for the pool project is #26. More will be posted here later on this evening.

08/07/2025

We continue to await news on the new bidding process for the Belmont Plaza Aquatic Center. The city said all previous bids from the May bidding period came in too high for the budget, and were all rejected.

07/31/2025

No news lately about the bids for construction, or the timing of when construction will start.

07/31/2025

Earlier this spring, the City requested bids for the drastically downsized project from 5 pre-qualified construction companies. Apparently only 3 bids were received. All were above the $50 million reportedly budgeted for the project ($20+ million previously spent between 2013 and now). The bids supposedly came in around $70 million, so the City cancelled the bids and will now go back to the drawing board. A source has said the new bid package won't go out until 2026, and construction wouldn't start before 2027.

Not sure why the City is calling for a $50 million budget, when the pre-work of design, permits, and detailed construction specifications have already been completed as part of the money already spent. Shouldn't the bids be just for the costs of the actual construction? Perhaps someone can answer that.

Nonetheless, the City has completely blown it on this project, one of the "8 for 28" infrastructure projects to be completed prior to the LA2028 Olympics. Another of the 8 for 28 was to replace the Belmont Pier, but the City has now declined to do that, causing the LA28 committee to move the Olympic Sailing events to the Port of Los Angeles.

01/29/2025

The city held a meeting on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, to update the community on the status of the Belmont Plaza Pool. It was the first true update in over 18 months, since June 2023. Not much has changed since then. A lot of talk about how diligently staff is working to get permits done, blah, blah, blah. They did present updated pictures of the proposed design, with a little more attention to the details, and schematics of the pools and support buildings. Here is the link to the full presentation: https://www.belmontpool.com/uploads/docs/presentations/20250122/BBAC-Presentation-2025-0122.pdf.

Major hurdles remain to get even this watered-down project, including: the California Coastal Commission must approve (again) the project as it now stands, selecting one of the 5 pre-qualified construction company bidders, solving the lack of full funding for the facility, and final approval and allocation of funds from the City Council.

Note the timeline on page 31 in the presentation. That may or may not hold, as Director of Public Works Eric Lopez made very clear that NO construction will commence until the City has every dollar in hand for the full project cost.

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