New design for Olympic-size swimming pool at Lake Worth Community High School
Lake Worth Beach city commissioners Feb. 17 will discuss a potential partnership with Palm Beach County School District for a shared facility
LAKE WORTH BEACH city commissioners are scheduled to review a new design for a shared Olympic-size swimming pool at Lake Worth Beach Community High School.
On Feb. 17, commissioners will discuss the district-made design showing a 50-meter pool with a diving well, bleacher seating above an electric room and locker room, a building with public restrooms and concessions, and a parking lot.
The design puts the pool on school land currently occupied by four basketball courts and a softball field, along the west side of South A Street between Third Avenue South and the north end of Harold Grimes Memorial Park.
The idea of a shared pool dates to Dec. 17, 2024, when Mayor Betty Resch and Interim City Manager Jamie Brown attended a meeting with school district officials, Brown said in a memo released Feb. 6 with the Feb. 17 agenda.
Among others at that 2024 meeting: County Commissioner Joel Flores, School Board Member Erica Whitfield, School District Superintendent Michael Burke, Chief Operating Officer Joseph Sanches, and Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Cirillo.
About eight months later, Whitifield presented the idea to city commissioners on Aug. 5 when she said the district and city might be able to combine their finances and build a barebones Olympic-size pool for $15 million.
At a school board meeting in July 2025, she said a higher end pool might cost $30 million. She said the city and district can consider reaching out to private donors and selling naming rights.
At the time, she said the district had agreed to earmark $8.5 million for a new pool while Brown said Lake Worth Beach had under $6 million that could be available for the pool.
“An undertaking such as this would obviously require further discussion, public input and an interlocal agreement with the district, but an initial commission discussion on the proposed pool location and concept received from the School District is necessary,’’ Brown said in the Feb. 6 memo.
Lake Worth Community High School had a swimming pool on campus north of the football stadium along Lucerne Avenue for 60 years until it closed because of outdated equipment and an iguana infestation. Opened in 1962, the pool was demolished last summer.
The city’s public pool at the beach casino has been closed since 2017, a source of debate in recent years by city commissioners over how to replace it.
Last week, City Commissioner Anthony Segrich said a casino pool could be renovated as part of a public-private partnership if voters on March 10 approve a charter change extending to up to 99 years leases on city-owned land. The charter change, and others, have sparked vocal opposition.