Recreation Commission to Consider Recommending $4.8 Million Pool Fee Waiver for Rose Bowl Aquatics Center

The Pasadena Recreation and Parks Commission is scheduled to consider recommending that the City Council waive nearly $4.8 million in facility rental fees so the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center can operate out of the city’s Villa Parke Pool while its own facility is rebuilt for the 2028 Olympic Games.

At its meeting Tuesday, the commission will take up a staff request to adopt a motion recommending that the City Council approve a waiver of $4,821,304 in city facility rental fees, allowing the aquatics center to use Villa Parke Pool for temporary aquatic programming from April 1, 2027, through Sept. 30, 2028.

Because the Recreation and Parks Commission is an advisory body, any vote it takes would be a recommendation only. The City Council retains final authority over whether to grant the fee waiver. If the council ultimately approves the request, the move would let the nonprofit shift its highest-priority community swim programs to Villa Parke rather than suspend them — a question that touches Pasadena residents who rely on learn-to-swim, adaptive and senior aquatic programs.

The Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has been selected as the venue for diving events at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and would need to temporarily cease operations from April 1, 2027, through Sept. 30, 2028, to accommodate major construction, according to the staff report from Director Koko Panossian. The center reports more than 400,000 participant visits and over 209,000 lesson and class visits each year across all ages and abilities.

Villa Parke Pool currently operates only during the summer, from mid-June through mid-August, for city recreation programming, youth day camps, swim lessons and public recreational swim. For the remaining nine months, September through May, the pool sits closed to the public. Under the proposal, the aquatics center would activate the pool only during that off-season window, and staff say city summer programming and resident access would not be displaced, reduced or modified.

The waiver would cover the standard commercial base rental fee of $4,821,304, which staff calculated from 4,399 hours of use at commercial rates — $4,715,728 for the swimming pool and $105,576 for showers and dressing rooms. Staff note the figure represents foregone potential revenue over three fiscal years rather than a budgeted loss, because Villa Parke Pool is not historically rented during the off-season. The aquatics center would separately reimburse the city for 100% of direct costs tied to the expanded hours, including utilities, pool chemicals, dedicated staffing, janitorial services and preventive maintenance, producing what staff describe as a net-zero impact on the Parks, Recreation and Community Services operating budget.

Staff say preserving the programs would sustain learn-to-swim and water-safety instruction aimed at preventing youth drownings, adaptive swim and therapy sessions for children and adults with disabilities, low-impact exercise and rehabilitation for older adults, and scholarships for low-income residents, while retaining certified instructors, lifeguards and therapy coaches. The aquatics center would provide its own American Red Cross-certified lifeguards and instructors, full insurance and liability coverage, and would coordinate with city recreation supervisors.

The Recreation and Parks Commission is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, in the City Yards Public Works Building, Second Floor, at 233 W. Mountain St., in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-7311 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.