Almost 11 months to the day since the dive tower’s topping out, the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center project made a splash! In conjunction with the City of Fort Lauderdale, USA DIVING and Red Bull Cliff Diving, the aquatic center hosted a media day to highlight all aspects of the new dive tower and the facets of diving as a sport.
World champion high diver Steven LoBue and 2020 Olympian Brandon Loschiavo, along with members of the Fort Lauderdale Dive Team, USA Diving’s High-Performance Squad and Red Bull Cliff Diving were in attendance for the media day event. Steven LoBue became the first person to dive off of the new 27-meter tower, the first of its kind in the western hemisphere.
The 27-meter dive tower includes nine platform levels and combines three sporting events: springboard (one-meter, three-meter), platform diving (one-meter, three-meter, five-meter, seven-point-five-meter, 10-meter) and high diving (15-meter, 20-meter, 24-meter and 27-meter). The tower is constructed of 96 precast concrete panels and rests on a foundation five-feet deep and 53-feet wide, supported by 35 auger cast piles at a depth of 60-feet. There are 162 stairs to the top of the tower.
The Hensel Phelps design-build team was awarded the project in August 2018 and consists of Cartaya & Associates, Counsilman-Husaker, Gate Precast, Weller Pools, Keith & Associates, Langan, WSP, HyPower Inc, Econstruct, Southeast Precast Erectors, and Right Way Plumbing Company. The Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center is scheduled for substantial completion in late 2022.
Renovations to the aquatic center include the demolition and construction of new swimming pools that will be FINA (Fédération International de Natation) compliant and meet the international swimming and diving competition standards, state-of-the-art 27-meter permanent dive tower, a spa, a new grandstand building and bleachers with spectator restrooms, concessions and a ticket office.
