A new outdoor and indoor pool complex off Hall Mills Road is on track to open at the start of fall, giving Mobile County competitive and recreational swimmers a long-awaited home after nearly two decades of planning.
The Mobile County Aquatics Center will feature a 50-meter by 25-yard outdoor pool with 20 lanes for competition and lap swimming, along with a separate six-lane, 25-yard indoor instructional pool. The facility is roughly 90% complete, and crews recently finished filling both pools with water.
“We have a 50 meter by 25 yard outdoor pool and a 25 yard, six line indoor pool. The outdoor pool being 20 lanes, for competition and lap swim, and then the indoor pool is six lanes, and that’s an instructional pool,” said Tyler Kerns, head coach of the City of Mobile Swim Association.
Remaining work includes the bathrooms, locker rooms and indoor pool area, where crews will move into the plaster treatment process and finish the pump room. The project has faced delays from weather and supply chain issues that pushed the original early spring completion date back.
“We’ve really been on this project for close to two decades now, just thinking about the need for a facility like this. In 2024, we kind of got the final funding,” Kerns said. “With rain weather days and then just supply chain stuff, sometimes stuff takes longer to get to you than you would hope for.”
Mobile County District 2 Commissioner Connie Hudson said finishing on schedule matters because hundreds of swimmers are already counting on the facility for the fall season. “We want it finished by the end of August, because in September we’ve got about 600 swimmers coming,” Hudson said.
The $22.5 million project will support competitive swimming and diving, youth and high school programs, masters swim clubs, recreational swimming, aquatic exercise classes and instructional programs. It will also give local robotics teams a dedicated space to practice and compete with underwater remotely operated vehicles.
The new center will replace the City of Mobile Swim Association’s longtime home at the Bishop State pool, which the club has used since 1983. “The Bishop State Pool we’re at right now is about 45 years old,” Kerns said.
Even after the facility opens this fall, construction will continue on additional features, including an indoor competition pool, spectator seating, offices and concessions.