The Las Cruces Aquatics Center is shaping up to be a very attractive building. It should be ready for use by 2011. Crucens have been wanting a year round indoor swim facility for decades and this one will meet the needs of those who want or need the benefits of aquatic exercise.
How did this come about? The Las Cruces Aquatics Team rallied for years to get bond issues passed so that a quality swim meet facility could be built. Finally, the issue passed and financial times were good and the plans were to have a swim facility suitable for competitive swim meets. Then the economy changed, and the funding got manipulated several times. The city was in a terrible situation. Obviously Las Cruces would not be able to build the scope of facility it had originally planned.
Ultimately, the planners and designers worked out a solution to go ahead and build the full original shell of the building--with the intent to complete certain sections when the funding became available. It was an elegant solution because the infrastructure is now in place for the future and it will be much easier to get the work underway. 
On the downside, when the Aquatics center opens in the near future, it will not be equipped with a pool for young children and it will not have pool for competitive swimming--the two things the Las Cruces Aquatic Team lobbied for years to have.
The Aquatics Center will have a lap pool, a therapy pool, a lazy river with a current that will make you work to navigate its length, and an exercise studio on the second floor. 
The building is very attractive, both inside and out. The exterior windows are equipped with louvered, flat awnings that flank the length of the window walls from top to bottom. These awnings are amazingly efficient at controlling the heat gain during the day and eliminating glare from our intense New Mexico sunshine.
The day my Leadership Las Cruces class visited the facility, it was about 100 degrees outside. The only kind of cooling inside the building was ventilation from the big contractors fans. It was very comfortable in the building.
