Hollywood Aquatic Center is First for Eastern Las Vegas Valley
Residents on the eastern half of the Las Vegas Valley will celebrate their first indoor aquatic center when it is dedicated Friday, March 23 at 6 p.m.
Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, who represents the area, will join residents and staff in dedicating the Hollywood Aquatic Center, which features indoor and outdoor pools, waterslides and a lazy river. It is located in Hollywood Regional Park at 1550 S. Hollywood Blvd., between Charleston Boulevard and Sahara Avenue, in the foothills of Frenchman Mountain.
Residents are invited to join in the fun with free swimming, light refreshments and water demonstrations of synchronized swimming, water aerobics and water polo. There also will be an aqua “boot camp,” and a Las Vegas High School quartet and the Harney Middle School honor choir will perform.
“Families in the eastern half of the valley have been waiting for a complex like this for years,” said Commissioner Giunchigliani. “Families now have a place to take their children swimming, schools will have access and many adults will enjoy the opportunity to swim laps or simply relax in this community jewel.”
The center is only the second regional aquatic complex the County has built. The Desert Breeze facility opened in the Southwest at Durango and Desert Inn in October 2001. The nearest similar public indoor swimming facilities are in Henderson’s Whitney Ranch and in downtown Las Vegas.
The center is a single-story, 7,300-square-foot facility with a mostly glass-enclosed indoor pool area that features a 10-lane competition pool, an instructional pool and a party room. The facility will hold high school swim competitions, swimming classes and other water exercise activities for all ages.
The facility also includes an outdoor activity pool that is open to the public during the summer and features a beach-style entry with two waterslides, a lazy river, interactive play equipment, picnic space and a 17,000-square-foot pool deck. The facility was built with the environment in mind, using recycled building materials and local precuts.
Anyone attending the event who wishes to go swimming should be aware of these rules:
- Children under 8 years old must be accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older who must be in the water within arm’s reach of the child at all times. If the child can pass a swim test, and the parent/guardian signs a waiver of liability, then the parent may watch the child from the deck while staying inside the facility.
- The Southern Nevada Health District requires that only clothing specifically designed for swimming is allowed. This policy is designed to help maintain a sanitary environment as well as to minimize drowning hazards.
The aquatics center was designed to provide a relaxing, fun and environmentally responsible facility for all residents to enjoy. It will also be instrumental in providing swim lessons and drowning prevention programs to the public. Clark County is a member of the Southern Nevada Child Drowning Prevention Coalition (SNCDPC). The mission of the SNCDPC is to educate all citizens of the dangers backyard swimming pools pose to young children – in particular, children 4-years-old and younger – in order to ensure a safe environment for Southern Nevadans of all ages.
The 21-acre park is popular with area residents and has one of the valley’s best views of the Las Vegas skyline. It features four softball fields, walking paths, picnic areas and more and is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Another 133 acres are available for future park development though no funding has been identified for that yet. A 40,000-square-foot community center is also on site, where there are a gymnasium and fitness, dance and exercise rooms. Rooms are available for special event rentals and neighborhood services offices are located there.
Hollywood also features Clark County’s largest concrete skate park at 29,000 square feet, designed for the advanced-level participant with some intermediate-level elements, including an 11-foot-deep kidney bowl and an 18-foot full pipe, plus a full plaza with a 10-stair step with rails, two fun boxes, two ledges and two six-stair steps.
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Clark County is a dynamic and innovative organization dedicated to providing top-quality service with integrity, respect and accountability. With jurisdiction over the world-famous Las Vegas Strip and covering an area the size of New Jersey, Clark is the nation’s 14th-largest county and provides extensive regional services to more than 2 million citizens and 42 million visitors a year. Included are the nation’s 8th-busiest airport, air quality compliance, social services and the state’s largest public hospital, University Medical Center. The County also provides municipal services that are traditionally provided by cities to almost 900,000 residents in the unincorporated area. Those include fire protection, roads and other public works, parks and recreation, and planning and development.