ICYMI: Farmingdale Aquatic Center Celebrates Grand Opening

FARMINGDALE, NY — The Farmingdale Aquatic Center celebrated its grand opening on Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The two-pool building is open to the Farmingdale community and is on the grounds of Howitt Middle School, adjacent to the school buildings.

Farmingdale residents in 2016 voted to approve a $36 million bond for the sports complex and aquatic center, which also saw a rebuild of the high school stadium, new baseball, softball and multi-purpose stadiums at Howitt, and upgrades to every field in the school district.

The Farmingdale High School pool was approaching 50 years old when school district officials began the discussion on the aquatic center at Howitt.

"Pools aren't supposed to live for 50 years," Superintendent Paul Defendini told the people gathered at the ribbon cutting. "If you get 30, you're lucky. 40 is a miracle, and 50 is unheard of. The fact that we were nearing our 50-year anniversary made us realize we had to do something. Neither the board of education nor the administration wanted that facility to go down on our watch. We did not want to be the reason why the Farmingdale aquatics program and why our program here at Farmingdale Schools doesn't continue to live on."

Imagination, renderings and sketches on paper eventually turned into the 2016 bond vote.

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