Splashing ahead

North Idaho has long been a haven for adventurers, nature enthusiasts, and those who appreciate natural beauty. At the heart of our home is Lake Pend Oreille. It is essential that every person in our community has the opportunity to learn how to swim, and to reach safe, inclusive aquatic programs.

The Ponderay Aquatic Center Endowment was founded with a vision to help our community grow and thrive. We aim to create a year-round facility offering high-quality aquatic instruction, alongside a space that fosters movement and community connection.

  • A Ballard King feasibility study supporting the need
  • Concept design by PBK Architects
  • A board that has delivered multi-million dollar projects
  • 501(c)(3) status, so gifts are tax deductible

Nothing on this page has been built yet. This is the facility we are raising money to build, and the plan we are asking you to back.

Six facilities, one building

Co-locating them is the point. One parking lot, one lobby, one mechanical plant — and the waste heat from the ice rink helps warm the water.

  • Kids playing in Water 1

    Leisure Pool

    Leisure Pool

    Warm, shallow water with zero-depth entry — built for first swim lessons, family afternoons, water walking and rehabilitation.

  • Child Studying 1

    Competition Pool

    Competition Pool

    A 25-yard competition pool and diving well, so a high-school team of 36 no longer trains eight swimmers to a lane.

  • Person Holding a Child 1

    Ice Rinks

    Ice Rinks

    A full-size indoor rink and an outdoor rink, ending the two-hour drive each way for ice time.

  • Agricultural Setting 1

    Field House & Courts

    Field House & Courts

    Three full court bays for basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer and lacrosse, with a weight room and fitness floor above.

  • Child in Rural Area 1

    Indoor Track

    Indoor Track

    An indoor walking track, so our older neighbors no longer walk laps inside retail stores from November to April.

  • People Walking down a Road Carrying Wood on their Heads 1

    Community Rooms & Café

    Community Rooms & Café

    Meeting rooms, a ballroom and a café off the main lobby — the parts of a community center that have nothing to do with sport.

The detail

Leisure Pool

11,700 sq ft, held between 86 and 88°F.

  • Zero-depth entry, so a stroller, a first-time swimmer and a wheelchair all get in the same way
  • Three walkable lanes, 25 yards at 4 ft deep
  • Shallow areas stepping down through 3 ft, 2 ft and 1 ft
  • Fountains, a lazy river and an indoor/outdoor slide
  • Accessible entry and exit for all users

Programs: community swim lessons, family leisure swim, warm-water aerobics, injury recovery, parties.

22,301 sq ft, with an adjoining 11,310 sq ft diving well, held between 79 and 82°F.

  • 25 yards by 30 yards, designed to allow a future expansion to 25 yards by 50 meters
  • Depths from 8 ft to 16 ft
  • Three boards — two at one meter, one at three meters
  • Accessible entry and exit lift
  • Hot tub for adults, swimmers and divers

Programs: swim and dive team training and meets, water polo, synchronized swimming, deep-water rescue, lifeguard certification, SCUBA, kayak and boat safety.

A full-size indoor rink at 23,561 sq ft, plus an outdoor rink in the surrounding recreation area.

  • Dedicated ice lobby, Zamboni bay and ice plant
  • 1,371 sq ft observation room, so families can watch from the warm
  • Waste heat from the ice plant is used to help warm the pools

Today, ice time means roughly a two-hour drive each way and a midnight return on a school night.

Three court bays — 8,712, 8,747 and 8,747 sq ft — giving roughly 26,000 sq ft of indoor court.

  • Basketball and volleyball able to run at the same time
  • Indoor soccer and lacrosse in the intended program
  • Second floor adds a 2,163 sq ft weight room and a 2,157 sq ft fitness and training floor
  • Three squash courts and two multi-purpose rooms above
  • 566 sq ft sports medicine room

An indoor walking track is part of the field house program in PACE’s plans.

It is the amenity our older neighbors ask for most often. Today, when the weather turns, many of them walk laps inside local retail stores because there is nowhere else that is warm, flat and free.

Track length and configuration will be set when the architectural plans are finalized — step three on the roadmap below. We would rather say that than publish a number we cannot yet stand behind.

The rooms that make it somewhere people go when they are not training.

  • 1,969 sq ft community room
  • Two 351 sq ft conference rooms
  • Two 970 sq ft multi-purpose rooms and a 631 sq ft ballroom on the second floor
  • 608 sq ft café off the 2,538 sq ft main lobby, with a 698 sq ft kitchen
  • 1,094 sq ft daycare space
I was an awkward youth who became interested in and learned to swim. I became a swim lesson instructor, continued to swim in high school, and went on to swim for my university. Swimming brought me out of my shell.
Greg Jackson • PACE Vice President and Sandpoint High School coach

Shared heat

Waste heat from the ice plant helps warm the pools. One building, one mechanical system, lower running cost for as long as the doors are open.

Accessible by design

Zero-depth pool entry, accessible lifts, family locker rooms and a daycare space. Designed so that nobody is left at the edge.

Year-round

Built for the months when North Idaho has nowhere indoors to go — late fall through early spring.

Built to last

A non-municipal endowment funds construction, running and upkeep, so the building is not one budget cycle from closing.

Where we are

  • Feasibility study, to understand what the community actually needs
  • Board of Directors established
  • PACE established as an IRS-accepted 501(c)(3) not-for-profit
  • Initial architectural concepts drawn
  • Website launched with a donation portal

Still to do

  1. Local fundraising, to demonstrate community interest and support
  2. Expand volunteer staff to assist with grant applications
  3. Finalize architectural plans
  4. Obtain permits and prepare the site
  5. Phased construction and completion of the aquatic center and recreational complex

Help us build it

PACE is a 501(c)(3). Gifts go to designing, building and running the community center — nothing else.