Boerne ISD opens long-awaited aquatics center

Troubled waters smoothed over as project faced delays

“We’re just at the tip of the iceberg on where we’re headed.”

— Scott Slay, aquatics director

The Boerne Independent School District swim teams are taking the plunge with the longawaited opening Monday of their very own Boerne Aquatics Center.

The district’s 2022 bond issue paid for the 11-lane, 25-yard pool.

The Boerne and Champion high school swim teams christened the pool during a ribbon cutting, with athletes jumping off the blocks into the heated 81-degree water on an otherwise brisk afternoon.

“This has been a longawaited moment,” said Superintendent Kristin Craft, holding up a certificate of occupancy the district received on Monday from the city.

“We are so excited to unveil the aquatics learning center. It’s taken a lot of hands to get to this point,” Craft added. “We’re pleased with our final product and it’s going to serve our community for generations to come.” Boerne ISD signed on with a contractor in the summer of 2023 to construct the $8.7 million swim complex, located off Herff Ranch Boulevard near Cibolo Creek Elementary School. There were troubled waters along the way as the project faced several delays, district officials said.

An initial completion date of August 2024 was never realized. A renewed “substantial completion” date of May 28 that year — agreed upon by the district and the contractor during a school board meeting three weeks earlier — failed to happen, and ties were cut in June.

“We knew this might have been a little too much for them, but our partnerships are very important for us,” said Ramiro Guerrero, Boerne ISD executive director of operations. “We needed their partnership to get us through the transition as well, so they were very good about doing that.”

Boerne-based Waterman Construction took on the project in early July once the district terminated the original contract.

Guerrero, who thanked Waterman, said the aquatics center is a state-of-the-art facility and “a pool that’s engineered to give student-athletes the best water conditions, to get the best times. This is what’s used at all (University Interscholastic League) competitions.”

The pool, he said, features the lanes at 25 yards, or high school competition distance, and includes nine lanes at 25 meters, which is collegiate competition distance. “We can also give them the experience for the collegiate level, so we’re future-ready, making our kids future-ready,” he added.

Athletic Director Stan Leech introduced Aquatics Director Scott Slay at the ribbon cutting.

“We’ve been talking about this since about 1999; we’ve been doing swimming since 1998,” Leech said. “I’m looking at all of you who have been calling me through the years, saying, ‘When are we going to get a pool?’ ‘Next year.’ Well, finally next year came.”

Slay spoke on the success of the district’s swim program, and how the pool offers opportunities to current swimmers and those to come.

“What is going on here over the past couple of years is unheard of. This is not normal,” Slay said. “We’re just at the tip of the iceberg on where we’re headed and what we can do now that we have this facility.”

He added, “We’re competing at the top levels of the state. I really believe, as a district, that we’re one of the top aquatic programs in the state.”

Kate Canales, a junior state record holder who has committed to the University of Florida, said the pool represents a huge step forward for the district.

“Better training conditions means ... more productive workouts and the ability to compete at a higher level,” Canales said. “For us athletes, this pool isn’t just water, it’s opportunity — opportunity to improve, to set bigger goals and push ourselves in ways we couldn’t before.”

Guerrero thanked a long list of people at the pool’s opening, including the school board.

“You guys made the hard decisions when they had to be made, and that’s why we’re here today, because of you,” he said.