For about a year starting this summer, swimmers at Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center can return to the Ray Williamson pool for regular use.
“Based on our research and with guidance from our architectural firm and city/state agencies, we have received authorization to reopen the Ray Williamson pool,” wrote BI Metro Parks and Recreation District leadership in a May newsletter. “While the space will look partially transformed, it will be functional and safe.”
A specific reopening date for the pool is not yet certain, but it will occur as soon as the first phase of construction on the pool concludes, which the park district estimates to be between July 20 and Sept. 1.
This way, the district can accommodate fall and winter high school swim programs while it waits for building permits to begin the second phase of construction on the pool, roughly scheduled for March 2026, explained park district senior planner Matthew Keough. When it’s time to begin phase two, the pool and the surrounding groundwater will be drained and the pipes underneath will be updated.
Jenette Reneau, aquatic program administrator, received the go-ahead to reopen the RWP from the Kitsap Public Health District May 2. The schedule for both the Don Nakata and Ray Williamson pools will revert to exactly what they were before the closure.
The community is already reacting very positively, especially the high school swim teams, who will no longer have to travel for every meet, Reneau said.
“Demand for swimming facilities is just as high in the Pacific Northwest as it is in Texas or California, but even though there’s all this water all around us, there’s not as many opportunities for people to swim for sport,” said Reneau. “Having a facility of this scale in a relatively small community like this is pretty unique.”
The pool itself has not yet undergone construction, but the dry areas — staff break room, offices, storage area, locker room, roof, HVAC system, lobby, cathedral-like clerestory windows, fire safety sprinklers and plumbing were all updated.
The dedicated storage room and expanded areas for staff will be big improvements, Reneau said: “Indoor pools mean the space is always very hot and humid. Having a separate space where staff, especially lifeguards, can take a breath and relax will be amazing.”
When the new pool is updated, several new programs will kick off to fill gaps in existing programs and appeal to new types of swimmers. There’s a lot of recreational swimming available for seniors and young children on the island, but not as much for active adults and younger teenagers, Reneau said.
Several of the new programs are aimed at those groups: a transitional swim school between children’s swim lessons and the high school swim team; a diving program; junior lifeguarding; more intense water exercise for active adults; and an intense swimming program for adults inspired by training for the Navy SEALs.
Reneau also hopes to bring back Dive-In Movies, a summer movie-screening event series where visitors bring an inner tube and watch a film from the pool, projected on a big screen in the RWP room.
While certain elements of the RWP facility do not currently meet the state Department of Health’s code for safety, KPHD agreed to allow the pool to reopen on the condition that parks staff keep an eye on the structures of concern and ensure they are fixed during the second construction phase.
BIMPRD officials noted that the RWP’s drain covers and flow rate are technically not compliant with the Virginia Graeme Baker Act, which mandates that public pools be equipped with anti-entrapment devices to prevent drowning. However, the covers are in good condition other than being expired, and the pipes controlling the flow rate are scheduled for replacement during phase two of construction, which led KPHD to permit the use of the pool.
