Officials Gathered at Groundbreaking of Expansive New Aquatic Center in City of Newburgh (VIDEO)

Delano-Hitch Aquatic Center Design by Clark, Patteron & Lee

City of Newburgh - City officials were just about as excited as children and their families are about the formal groundbreaking held on Thursday afternoon with shovels in te ground for the Delano-Hitch Aquatic Center at the corner of Washington and Robinson (Route 94), just a few blocks from the Center of the City. They know that when temperatures go into the 90s the best way to keep kids occupied and happy is to help them cool down and have some fun. This enormous project will not be completed until 2025, so in the interim they have gone to great lengths putting together several splash parks throughout the city.

The Aquatic Center (as Councilman Omari Shakur remarked, "More than a 'Pool, it's gonna be a real Aquatic Center'"), was designed by Clark, Patterson, Lee, which is the same construction company that did the County's Government Center renovation. The project, Mayor Torrence Harvey said, is expected to cost $12M to $14M. The original pool, built in 1931 had several renovations but was finally shut down prior to COVID due to its deteriorating condition.

As can be heard in the video below, members of the youth teams that are out finishing up their Summer Football Team practice showed their camaraderie with the council members, giving shout-outs and high-fives to the Mayor, clearly aware of the extents the Council is going to in an effort to keep them happy and safe, and do some additional revitalization for the City (see videos below).