OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV)
- Video shows Westside High School's Impacting Excellence Campaign.
- Berkley Gemar, a freshman at Westside, is excited to experience the new pool.
- Westside High School head swim coach said the upgrades to the pool will impact more than just the swim team.
- The project will have something for all staff and students for years to come.
- The renovations start this spring and the entire project will take about 18 months.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"It was very shocking because, I mean, I was expecting something like big and cool but it was like extremely different and so cool," said Berkley Gemar, a freshman on the Westside High School swim team.
That’s how Gemar says she reacted to the pool's new look.
"I have been swimming here for years, because I do club in this pool too, so I think it will be a really cool like new experience" Gemar said.
Westside has a well-known swim program, and this pool has been its home since it was built in the 1960s.
Head coach Andy Rider said the renovations will impact more than just the swim team.
"Our learn to swim programs, we'll have our swim classes during the day, we have our lifeguard training class as well and they will all be able to access the pool," Rider said.
Features include 8 lanes, added deck space and the same type of pool you will see in the Olympics.
But the pool renovation is just one piece of a privately funded $34 million project, that has a little something for everyone.
“It consists of everything regarding college and career readiness center to an innovation lab to performance and wellness center, medicine, family resource center and a pool,” said Terry Hanna, president of the Westside Foundation. "Every 2,000 students that is connected to this high school at any given year, they are going to be impacted."
Construction will start this spring and take about 18 months.
"The new space will be ready by fall of 2025 and then late winter the renovated space would be created," Hanna said.
That means freshmen like Berkley will get to experience the completed upgrades their junior year.
"I think it is super nice and cool to see that they like really do care about us, athletes and students, like that they are doing things for everyone in Westside community," Berkley Gemar said.
There is a public meeting at Westside High School on February 8 at 6 p.m.
For more information about the Impacting Excellence Campaign, visit the Westside Foundation's website.
