The Balfour Beatty + HMC Architects design-build team, the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works celebrated the grand opening of the new Hilda L. Solis Aquatic Center in La Puente, California. The design-build team joined Supervisor Hilda Solis, local representatives, community members, and La Puente residents to celebrate the first aquatic facility operated by Los Angeles County in the San Gabriel Valley. The milestone event was marked with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a children’s celebratory jump into the pool, a community resource fair, and a USA artistic swim team performance.
Named in honor of Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, the highly anticipated joint-use community center is a testament to the power of community collaboration. Managed by LA County Public Works on behalf of the LA County Department of Parks and Recreation, the new center features a new swimming facility and community park on a 3.1-acre site within the former campus of Temple Academy Elementary School. An Olympic-sized, 50-meter competitive swimming pool, a smaller practice and recreational pool, shaded bleachers and swim team areas, and modern amenities facilitate competitive swimming events and water sports. Adjacent to the pool area, an approximately 10,000-SF building supports swim teams and community events. It includes offices, locker rooms with showers, public restrooms, and a break area for aquatic center staff. The center provides over 120 jobs for local students and neighbors, provides a world-class aquatic experience for the community, and will enable the city to build swimming, diving, and artistic swimming teams and host regional and statewide competitions.
The design-build team led an extensive community engagement process, and every space and detail was designed with the community’s voice in mind. When families take their children to swim class, they can enjoy a one-acre park with exercise areas, a shade structure, a pollinator garden, a plaza, an outdoor amphitheater, and a walking loop that ties these points to the adjacent Allen J. Martin Park. The project’s civic art component, a glass mural at the building’s entrance, welcomes visitors into the facility and draws inspiration from everyday life moments and scenes. Depicting members of the community and city landmarks, the entrance mural celebrates the community and the people who weave its rich social fabric.
The new center provides vital aquatic and recreational resources for San Gabriel Valley residents and students of Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District (HLPUSD). The Balfour Beatty and HMC Architects design-build team relied on critical community partnerships throughout construction, including collaboration between LA County’s departments of Public Works and Parks and Recreation, HLPUSD, and Active SGV, as well as the West Puente Valley community at large.
This facility, born out of collective efforts, not only supports leisure and sports swimming but also inspires community engagement and promotes wellness, serving as a beacon of health and vitality for our community.
