Question 8: Aquatic Recreation Center
On March 3, Fayetteville voters will decide whether to continue an existing one-cent sales tax to fund city improvements - WITHOUT RAISING TAXES.
Question 8 would fund an Aquatic Recreation Center, with indoor and outdoor pools and other recreation spaces.
A year-round public aquatic facility would be a place for health, wellness, fitness, and recreation for our whole community. It would mean affordable swim lessons and water fitness close to home, with space for families to play and learn safely. It would also mean better access to therapy and low-impact exercise for seniors and people with disabilities, along with lap swimming, and consistent space for team practice and meets. And it would mean families could stay active together year-round.
Right now, Fayetteville is the only major city in Northwest Arkansas without a year-round public pool.
Below are the first conceptual images from the City of Fayetteville of the proposed Aquatics Recreation Center. These images are based on the features that Fayetteville residents said they wanted to see, in a series of citywide surveys open to all residents in 2024 and 2025.
They offer an early look at what the facility could include, such as an indoor lap pool with spectator seating for lessons and team practice, plus family-friendly aquatic features and space for community programming. These are conceptual images, and a final site and design have not yet been selected.
Fayetteville mom Amanda Blevins is publicly sharing her experience and why she believes swim lessons close to home can save lives.
Amanda and her family were at a pool with their four children when a stranger called out, “There’s a boy under the water!” Her husband dove down, pulled the child up, and revived him. It was their own son.
It was a terrible moment that her family will never forget. No family should ever have to live through the near-drowning of a child.
He survived. But the lesson was painfully clear: their family decided they all had to know how to swim really well. Those skills take practice, and practice requires access.
Right now, Fayetteville families who want consistent swim lessons often have to drive to places like the Jones Center in Springdale, or beyond, because Fayetteville doesn’t have a year-round public pool. That distance becomes a barrier, making it harder for kids to learn and keep their skills strong.
Amanda has added, “Hard story to share, but this boy of ours continues to amaze me and even swims for FHS now! Fayetteville needs a year round aquatic center for families learning to swim and even for the FHS swim team who has to pay to use a private pool! Feel free to share my story, praying it helps so many others not have to go through what we did.”
Please watch and share. If this story prompts even one family to prioritize swim lessons, it matters.
A year-round Aquatic Recreation Center would also expand health and wellness benefits and boost the local economy in Fayetteville.
“An aquatic center provides so much for a community. As a physician, I can tell you that year-round exercise and consistency are crucial for us to fight hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, type two diabetes, you name it. If we decrease all those, we actually can decrease our cancer rates." - Dr. Marti Sharkey, Public Health Physician
"Swimming has always been a foundational, staple sport exercise in my family. As fast as an area that's growing, I thought, man, we should have a pool." - Randy Wilburn, Fayetteville Podcaster
“An indoor pool can not only serve as a place for our citizens, for community, mental health, and physical health, but it also brings a number of large swim meets that would bring people from outside of Fayetteville, putting their sales tax dollars into our coffers. I think that's very important. And the Jones Center is packed. Springdale is getting all the benefits." - Anita Parisi, Aquatics Professional
A year-round aquatic center would make it possible for people to swim and stay active all year. As Fayetteville grows, this is about giving our residents more access to swim, exercise, and gather close to home.
Question 8 means major benefits for public health, quality of life, and local economic impact. You can help make it possible by voting FOR all ballot questions 1-9 to fund city improvements WITHOUT RAISING TAXES.