A attainable year-plus shutdown for the Olympics worries patrons of the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center

When they landed the diving competitors for the 2028 Summer Olympics final yr, operators of the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena trumpeted it as a gold-medal achievement. But swimmers and others who use the power at the moment are studying that pre-Olympic development most likely will pressure them out of three immensely widespread swimming swimming pools for greater than a yr.

The Aquatics Center will shut as early as subsequent April, and never be returned to its common customers till after the Olympics conclude in the summertime of 2028, folks with data of the plans confirmed to The Times.

Such a protracted closure will ship the greater than 400,000 individuals who pour by means of the middle’s turnstiles annually scrambling to search out different locations to swim, dive, play water polo and aqua-aerobicize. The heart’s two 50-meter swimming pools and an adjoining remedy pool might be closed, together with two expansive scorching tubs, the folks mentioned.

Aquatics Center operators declined to debate particulars of the shutdown, saying they plan to make an announcement Monday. They mentioned it’s untimely for them to debate what enhancements the Games will convey to the 36-year-old swim complicated, as these negotiations haven’t been concluded.

The Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena, proven on Friday, is about to shut subsequent yr to make approach for reconstruction as the middle will host diving within the 2028 Olympics.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Jacie Prieto Lopez, vice chairman of communications for LA28, the Olympics organizing group, confirmed that enhancements can be made to the power however mentioned specifics have been nonetheless being sorted out.

“We cannot comment on specific facility improvements as those remain under active discussion between LA28 and the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center,” Prieto Lopez mentioned “But based on initial evaluations of the existing facility, improvements could include the pool, diving tower and mechanical systems.”

Opened in 1990, partially with earnings from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the Aquatic Center was as soon as seen as a state-of-the-art facility. But it has grown considerably shopworn and in want of a makeover. The operators of the middle anticipate LA28 pays for a few of that work.

While LA28 officers wouldn’t focus on particulars, folks acquainted with their view mentioned the Olympic organizers would balk at bankrolling each improve pined for by town of Pasadena (which owns the power) and the nonprofit that operates the middle.

The huge deck across the swimming swimming pools has grown tough in locations. The locker rooms are cramped. Aged pumps and filters want an improve. Who ought to pay for these enhancements has been the topic of extended dialogue between LA28 and the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center operators, the folks acquainted mentioned.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be a win-win for LA28 and the Aquatics Center,” mentioned one of many folks, who wasn’t approved to talk publicly. “The LA28 group is putting in a lot of investment. That should account for the fact the Rose Bowl will be losing revenue during the closure.”

Aquatics Center loyalists, nonetheless, surprise how they may address the lack of their swimming pools.

“The pool helps me keep my weight down. It keeps my blood sugar down. It’s just everything to me,” mentioned Elizabeth Ramirez, a social employee from Alhambra, after rising from a morning aqua-aerobics class. “So when it closes down, it’s gonna definitely have an impact on my health. … Hopefully they will be able to tell us [about] another place where we will be able to go.”

Lynn Roberts, with one leg stunted by childhood polio, finds her time within the pool “life changing, because in the water I can do the things that everyone else does.” She is aware of that Rose Bowl is in search of various areas, however to this point there are not any particulars. The considered the pool being closed for greater than a yr is “a big thing,” she mentioned, including “People are very, very concerned.”

The Rose Bowl Aquatic Center on April 6 in Pasadena. The facility will host diving within the 2028 Olympic Games.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Like a dozen different regulars, Bonnie Stern talked in regards to the social hub the Aquatics Center creates. It’s been her gateway to new friendships, a strolling group, brunches and even an everyday completely satisfied hour.

“We’re all really concerned. There’s such a wonderful community here,” mentioned Stern, who works within the leisure business. “We haven’t heard yet where we can go. And where are we going to be able to find what we have now?”

The complicated additionally rents area to a restaurant and a separate store, the Swim Guy. Michael Eisenberg, who co-owns the swim tools enterprise along with his brother, Craig, worries about shedding clientele.

“We spent a lot of money setting this up and building our relationships with customers and teams,” Michael Eisenberg mentioned. “The RBAC asked us if we could stay open and service the community during construction, but I don’t see how we can do that, since all our teams and the public will be scattered to different pools in the area. My brother and I are kind of freaking out about it about how best to serve the teams and the public and the financial cost of closing.”

Aquatics Center government director Melanie Sauer mentioned the nonprofit and its many consumer teams — for youth swimming, Masters swimming, water polo and extra — are working fervently to search out various swimming pools. Rose Bowl Masters Swimming (to which the author of this article belongs) already has launched new exercises at Occidental College in Eagle Rock and is speaking to different pool operators.

The monetary losses through the closure might be important. The Aquatic Center reported $8.6 million in receipts from admissions, merchandise and companies in 2024, the newest yr reported on its federal tax filings. Another $1.6 million got here in through items, grants, contributions and membership charges.

Sauer mentioned that an “RBAC on the Road” program will search to attract funds from consumer teams after they relocate to different swimming pools. She mentioned it’s untimely to offer any particulars of these preparations.

Organizers of the Games introduced the shift to the Rose Bowl heart — within the Arroyo Seco simply south of the greater than 100-year-old soccer stadium — in September of final yr. Previously, the Games deliberate to have divers compete on the LA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium, instantly southwest of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which can host monitor and subject occasions.

A drone view of the pool, decrease proper, at Exposition Park on Nov. 10, 2025, in Los Angeles.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

But the Exposition Park pool, used for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, was not deep or broad sufficient for diving. And it might have confirmed extra pricey to retrofit than the Rose Bowl pool.

“This facility requires minimal work, provides additional amenities for athletes, and accounts for up to $17.6 million in revenue increases and cost savings,” LA28 mentioned when it introduced the shift to the Rose Bowl pool.

People acquainted with the plans for the Pasadena complicated say that Olympic diving followers might be seated in bleachers that might be erected atop the “competition” pool, which sits closest to the car parking zone. Additional seats could wrap across the north finish of the dive pool.

That pool’s 10-meter platform, initially constructed with a donation from the late televangelist Gene Scott, might be torn down and changed. One plan being thought-about by LA28 organizers would eschew the prevailing locker rooms in favor of momentary modular constructions, the sources mentioned.

LA28 officers imagine that any short-term losses to the middle might be greater than made up for by the long-term features from the worldwide consideration the swimming pools will obtain and the promise that different main swimming and diving occasions might be held there, in response to individuals who have spoken to the Olympic group. LA28 officers level to an evaluation by the Southern California Assn. of Governments that projected the Games will generate greater than $17 billion in gross home product for the area.

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1. A baby jumps off a diving board. 2. Margaret Shieh, 79, of San Marino, participates in a water health class. 3. Swimmers do laps on the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Both the 2028 Games and people future occasions will assist fill Pasadena motels, eating places and outlets, bolstering the native economic system and including tax {dollars} to town treasury, in response to supporters of the plan. The pool is being thought-about as the location of the 2028 Olympic diving trials, one supply mentioned.

“This historic opportunity will shine a global spotlight on our community,” the Aquatic Center proclaimed final yr. “We look forward to keeping you updated as more details become available.”