Aquatics center inside Colgan High School to open September 10

Students and residents will have a new place to swim starting September 10 when the ribbon is cut on the new indoor Prince William County Aquatics Center.

The facility includes a 500,000-gallon competition swimming pool with a moveable bulkhead for multiple meet configurations, a 50,000 gallon, zero-depth leisure pool, and a 150-foot long 20-foot high water slide.

The swim center located inside the newly built $111 million Colgan High School — one of the most costly high schools ever built in the state — will be open to the community seven days a week and be will be used by students. Getting students acquainted with the pool — children who otherwise not be acclimated to the water at home — is a core mission of the swim facility.

After the school year begins on August 2 and the pool opens for business two weeks later, second-grade students will come to the aquatics facility on a field trips to learn about water safety as part of the many educational programs planned at the pool.

“We’re not teaching them how to swim, but we are providing some instruction for safety in and around the water, and maybe someday that will save a life,” said Prince William Aquatics Center Manager Allen Dunn.

Drowning is the second-leading cause of the death for children under the age of 14. Black children are statistically more likely to drown than whites, officials added. 

The pool will be used as a field trip site for students who do not attend Colgan High School. Physical education students at Colgan will use the pool as part of their curriculum.

Nine Prince William County Public Schools will have daily swim team practices here, as well as two U.S. Swim teams. Teams from area homeowners associations will also use the facility. Dunn has already scheduled three conference meets and two regional swim meets at the facility.

A raised spectator spanning the length of the competition pool allows for extensive views of the indoor center. With an occupancy of 465 people, the facility is slightly larger than the indoor pool at the Freedom Aquatics and Fitness Center just outside Manassas, said Dunn.

The depth of the competition pool at the aquatics center ranges from four feet in the shallows to 12 and a half feet on the deep end. When not in use by swim teams, residents will be able to use the pool for activities ranging from swimming lessons, water aerobics, to scuba diving training.

Not only is the size of the facility impressive, but so is the “state-of-the-art” equipment used in the pump room to keep the pool clean. Ultra-violet light is used to disinfect the water during the filtration process, before its sent back to the pool.

“You’ll notice the air in here is pretty clear, low humidity, and you don’t have that strong chlorine smell you usually associate with other indoor swimming facilities, because of UV light and lower amount of chlorine we use…” said Dunn.

The doors to the aquatic center will open at 9:30 a.m. on September 10, and recreational swimming in both pools and use of the waterslide will be free. School officials hope residents will come and get aquatinted the new facility and then return in the following days as paying customers.

The pool will be open for public use from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, and 6 to 10 a.m., and 4 to 9 p.m. on weekdays.

Weekday evening hours will start at 6 p.m. beginning in November and last until the end of the high school swimming season.

Daily admission to the aquatics center will cost $5 for ages 3 to 15, $7 for ages 16 to 59, $5 for those 60 and older, and $15 for a family pass.

A 20 visit pass costs $75 for ages 3 to 15, $112.50 for those aged 16 to 15, and $75 for those over 60.

A one-month membership to the facility will cost $45 for those aged 3 to 15, $67.50 for those aged 16 to 59, $45 for those over 60, and $115 for a family.

A 12-month membership to the facility costs $273 for ages 3 to 15, $409.50 for those between the ages of 16 and 59, $273 for those over 60, and $819 for a family.

A separate entrance for the aquatics center at the rear of the school building will allow the public to come and go without entering the main section of Colgan High School. Inside the facility, doors will be locked preventing public access to the school. This will make it easier for the public to use the facility while keeping the students inside the school buying more secure, said Dunn.

The Prince William Aquatics Facility joins the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center, and the Chinn and Sharon Baucom Dale City Rec Center both in Dale City as public swimming facilities in the county. The facility is also the first and only swimming pool at a public school in Prince William County.

The Prince William Aqutics Facility is located at 13719 Dumfries Road near Woodbridge.