CITY BREAKS GROUND ON SWIM CENTER.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer CANYON COUNTRY - Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, city officials grabbed golden shovels and turned over ceremonial dirt Friday, launching the construction of the Santa Clarita Aquatics Center. ``This is an awesome facility,'' said Mayor Frank Ferry. ``We will be able to do so many great things for our children and our youth.'' Last month, the council awarded the $7.3 million contract for the facility, which includes three pools, a gymnasium gymnasium In Germany, a state-maintained secondary school that prepares pupils for higher academic education. This type of nine-year school originated in Strasbourg in 1537. , a diving A DIV Associate of Divinity well and bleachers, to Santa Clarita-based FedCon General Contractors A general contractor is an organization or individual that contracts with another organization or individual (the owner) for the construction of a building, road or any other execution of work or facility. . City leaders plan to host tournaments and invitationals at the center, after it is opened to the public in the fall of 2003, said Parks and Recreation Commissioner Rick Gould. An additional $4 million will be needed to complete the state-of-the-art center, touted by civic leaders as another jewel in Santa Clarita's crown of parks and recreation facilities. Parks and Recreation Commissioner Duane Harte said the biggest hurdle in completing the center will be the city's cash-strapped budget and flat revenues. The City Council is not expected to set aside money for the Aquatics Center in next year's budget, which city officials expect to be extremely tight. It's unknown how officials expect to fill the gap, though the center will be built in two phases. Last fall, at the height of uncertainty about the economy after the Sept. 11 attacks and in the middle of an economic recession, the council members considered delaying or scuttling Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull. This can be achieved in several ways - valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives. plans for the Aquatics Center. The city's ambitious capital improvement plan has drained about $5 million from Santa Clarita's reserves over the past year, records show. The council used an additional $2.3 million of its reserves and borrowed $3.2 million more to buy 38 acres of undeveloped land next to the Aquatics Center in October. The plan is to build parking lots and practice fields on that land to supplement the center. Local swimmers and their coaches said they were relieved that construction is under way and were eager for the pools to open. ``This will allow us to take our programs to a whole new level,'' said Steve Neale, coach of the Hart High School Hart High School may refer to:
Neale said he was looking forward to not having to jockey for pool time with the other high schools and teams. ``This will be a shot in the arm for all the high schools and could put us on the same level as the teams in Orange County,'' Neale said. Canyon High School Canyon High School can refer to:
adj. 1. Feeling, expressing, or characterized by envy: "At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way.... that her friends on the team who are freshmen will get to swim in the new pools. ``Its going to make it so much easier for the team to train,'' said Koumaus, 16. The Canyon High swim team now practices in the pool at College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. in Valencia. ``I'm excited that the other teams will now have to come here to compete,'' said Maia Paris, 15, a freshman at Canyon High. ``We'll have home field advantage and we'll be unbeatable.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Santa Clarita officials break ground ceremonially Friday for the planned Aquatics Center. Charlotte-Schmid Maybach/Staff Photographer |
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