Long Beach hosting groundbreaking Saturday for Belmont Beach & Aquatics Center

California Construction News staff writer

The City of Long Beach is celebrating major milestone for one of the community’s most anticipated construction projects at the Belmont Plaza Pool Groundbreaking on Sat., May 30.

Project partners, local leaders and community members will officially mark the beginning of construction on the new Belmont Beach & Aquatics Center, the long-awaited replacement for the historic Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool that was demolished in 2014 due to seismic safety concerns.

The groundbreaking celebration will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Termino Avenue and Olympic Plaza, adjacent to the Belmont Memorial Pier parking lot.

Long Beach City Council approved a construction contract valued at approximately $60 million with Bernards Bros., Inc. earlier this year, officially moving the project from planning into construction. Funding for the project primarily comes from the city’s Tidelands Fund, which is reserved for coastal-area improvements under state law.

Construction is expected to continue through 2028, with city leaders aiming to complete the facility ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

After more than a decade of planning, redesigns and community input, plans were eventually scaled back to create a more financially sustainable facility that could still meet the city’s recreational and competitive aquatics needs.

Plans now include a 50-meter outdoor competition pool with a movable bulkhead, a separate recreation and instructional pool with zero-depth entry and splash features, shaded spectator seating, locker rooms, showers, family changing areas and accessible amenities throughout the site.

“For more than a decade, the Belmont Pool has been talked about. Today, we’re moving from planning to building and putting shovels in the ground,” Mayor Rex Richardson said following the City Council’s approval of the construction contract earlier this year.