Farmingdale Aquatic Center Celebrates Grand Opening

FARMINGDALE, NY — The Farmingdale Aquatic Center celebrated its grand opening on Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The two-pool building is open to the Farmingdale community and is on the grounds of Howitt Middle School, adjacent to the school buildings.

Farmingdale residents in 2016 voted to approve a $36 million bond for the sports complex and aquatic center, which also saw a rebuild of the high school stadium, new baseball, softball and multi-purpose stadiums at Howitt, and upgrades to every field in the school district.

The Farmingdale High School pool was approaching 50 years old when school district officials began the discussion on the aquatic center at Howitt.

"Pools aren't supposed to live for 50 years," Superintendent Paul Defendini told the people gathered at the ribbon cutting. "If you get 30, you're lucky. 40 is a miracle, and 50 is unheard of. The fact that we were nearing our 50-year anniversary made us realize we had to do something. Neither the board of education nor the administration wanted that facility to go down on our watch. We did not want to be the reason why the Farmingdale aquatics program and why our program here at Farmingdale Schools doesn't continue to live on."

Imagination, renderings and sketches on paper eventually turned into the 2016 bond vote.

Defendini recalled going to the voting machines and waiting for the results to come in while "panicked beyond all possible recognition," as the district officials had spent six months pitching the sports complex and aquatic center to the community.

"In groundbreaking this facility, it is something that is unique," Defendini said. "This is something that doesn't exist anywhere in New York state, let alone a school district like Farmingdale."

Defendini's full speech can be watched below

Unlike the existing pool at Farmingdale High School, which has been largely reserved for the district's student-athletes, residents and school district personnel will get to make daily use of the upcoming aquatic center.

The aquatic center boasts two pools: a 340,000-gallon competition pool for the boys and girls varsity swim teams, and the smaller community pool that will be open to the public for programs and free swimming.

The community pool will generally be open to the public Monday through Friday between 6 and 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 8 to 9:30 p.m. Open swim at no charge will be offered.

Open swim will be held in the competition pool when it's not in use, said Ken Ilchuk, the aquatic center's pool supervisor and coach of the Farmingdale swim teams.

The district will host programs like water aerobics, snorkeling, water volleyball, scuba diving, adult learn-to-swim, Mommy-Daddy-and-Me classes, and more. A motorized lift will be available to help those who need it get into the pool. More program information, including dates, times, costs, and registration, will soon be housed on the "Continuing Education" part of the Farmingdale website.

While swim classes will have a fee structure, free swim will be true to its name: free for anyone living within the Farmingdale School District's boundaries. People will show a student or staff ID, or proof of residency, and they will be given a lock to use in the locker room.