“We are incredibly grateful that Governor Hochul shares our vision for the SUNY Schenectady Aquatic Center,” said Gary Hughes, Chair of the Schenectady County Legislature. “This $10 million award moves us one step closer to bringing this transformative project to life. The facility will not only boost tourism and support local businesses but will also equip our residents with the essential life skill of swimming, helping to combat childhood drowning and create a safer community for all.”
“The support our aquatic center partnership has received from SUNY administration, the State of New York and Governor Kathy Hochul has truly blessed SUNY Schenectady with this historic opportunity,” said Dr. Steady H. Moono, President of SUNY Schenectady. “We look forward to making the vision of safer swimming and world-class aquatic competition a reality, to making aquatics programs in our community more accessible, and to further expanding our role in Schenectady’s ongoing rebirth.”
“Today’s award is game changing step forward for our efforts to build a first of its kind year-round swimming education and competition facility in Schenectady County,” said Kara Haraden, Capital Region Aquatic Center board president. “We are extremely grateful to Schenectady County and to SUNY Schenectady for preparing the winning grant proposal and we are forever grateful to Governor Kathy Hochul for believing in the importance of water safety.”
SUNY Schenectady Aquatic Center
The Schenectady County Legislature ratified a joint agreement between SUNY Schenectady County Community College, the County, and the Capital Region Aquatic Center in May to construct a state-of-the-art aquatic facility on land the County holds in trust for the College. The ratification followed a similar approval from the SUNY Schenectady Board of Trustees and the Capital Region Aquatic Center Board of Directors to ensure a commitment for the project to move forward while its fundraising, design and partnership development continue.
As part of the agreement, Schenectady County pledged $5 million for the project. The center is estimated to cost $41 million and currently, more than $31.5 million has been pledged towards the facility, including $10 million from NY SWIMS, $5 million from Schenectady County, $5 million in federal funding announced by Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, $5.1 million announced by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, and $6.4 million in private pledges. The partners will continue to seek additional funding for the project and expect construction of the 80,000 square foot center, which has been envisioned for more than a decade, to begin next year with a tentative opening date in 2027.
The project site in Schenectady is located on the block between State Street, South Church Street, South Ferry Street, Fuller Street and Erie Boulevard. Over the past several years, the County and College have worked to acquire these various properties and demolish aging and outmoded buildings. The location will provide greater access to aquatic programming for all ages and abilities and become a community anchor for aquatic education, competition and workforce development efforts such as lifeguard certification.
The new center, owned and operated by the College in collaboration with the Capital Region Aquatic Center, will be a welcome addition to the campus and plans are already underway to develop College-sponsored programming. Included in this programming are potential athletic, academic and extracurricular activities which will use the aquatic center as a base of operations and resources.
The aquatic center is planned to span 80,000 square feet and will include:
- Regulation Olympic-sized competition pool and diving well with 1,200-person seating for spectators and on-deck seating for 600 athletes
- Six-lane warm water instruction pool
- Heated therapy pool held at a constant temperature of 90 degrees
- Multi-purpose dry space including meeting rooms, pro shop, dry land training facilities, locker rooms and concessions
- Other non-traditional and/or non-aquatics activities
Drowning is the leading cause of death nationwide for children ages 1-4 according to CDC statistics. Public programming, including infant swim lessons (ISR), Autism Swims, the Boys and Girls Club, Special Olympics training and scuba lessons will be some of the many offerings at the facility thanks to partnerships already established.
The latest architectural rendering from Re4orm Architecture of Schenectady is available here.