Hermiston task force narrows sites for regional aquatic center and plans community outreach

Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith said the city and its regional partners are moving from feasibility to site selection for a proposed aquatic center and plan to collect public input before deciding on financing or design. "We've been meeting with the task force of various partners," Smith said, "and we went through and evaluated some of those, and we've come up with kind of a short list."

The task force includes representatives from Hermiston and neighboring jurisdictions (Umatilla, Stanfield, ECHO and Umatilla County), major local employers and the school district. Smith said the group will review shortlisted sites at a January meeting and follow that with community outreach on both siting and programming needs, including whether the facility should be indoor, outdoor or a broader recreation center. "We're gonna talk more in detail about each of those, those, possible sites," he said.

Smith said the city expects discussions about financing to move to the fore in February. He noted recent local economic activity — including development tied to Amazon and data centers — has created capital that can be used for large one-time projects but is less suited to covering ongoing operational costs. The city is also considering a capital campaign targeting businesses that would benefit from a regional facility.

On operating costs, Smith said the city is working with a consulting firm that specializes in aquatic centers to refine projections and staffing models. He referenced a smaller 2018 study as an initial baseline and said consultants will model variables such as lifeguard staffing, hours, and program mix to estimate what level of operations might approach cost recovery. "They can tell us, you know, how many lifeguards is this gonna take if we have this this amount of pool space," Smith said.

Smith emphasized the project's potential value to local schools and year-round swim instruction: an indoor or year-round facility could reduce travel burdens for school teams and increase the number of swim lessons offered. He also said the city envisions the facility as regional in scope and that it may sit inside or outside Hermiston city limits, depending on site viability and partnership agreements.

Next procedural steps Smith laid out include a January task force meeting to review sites, community outreach on site and programming choices, and a February discussion focused on funding options. The task force and city officials will use community feedback and consultant analysis to refine design and operational assumptions before returning to elected officials for direction.