Deep Dive
Forest Park Aquatic Center Is a Well-Kept Noblesville Secret
Writer / Matt Keating
Photographer / Jubilee Edgell
Greg Conner, president of Forest Park Aquatic Center, says the facility is one of the best-kept secrets in the city.
Hes trying hard to change that because he loves the place.
Ive been on the board since 2019, and began serving as president in 2021, Conner says. My connection with the Forest Park Aquatic Center goes back to the early 1990s. Growing up, I was a member of the Noblesville Swim Club, and practiced and competed each summer at the Forest Park Aquatic Center. As a teenager I worked as a lifeguard, head lifeguard, and later managed the facility while in college.
His goal now is to spread the word about the facility.
Its amazing to me how many people dont realize there is a pool in Forest Park, much less a facility of its caliber, Conner says. The current facility was built in the 1970s and is one of the largest outdoor aquatic centers in the Midwest. It is also one of only a handful of facilities that have Olympic regulation diving platforms.
As a result, some of the best competitive divers in the nation come to the facility to train.
There have been four Olympians come through our facility including Noblesvilles own David Boudia, Conner says. Last summer Tyler Downs qualified and competed in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. From a swimming perspective, the facility has 10 lanes and is 50 meters in length. It has hosted many prestigious competitions including the 2021 Indiana Swimming Age Group State Championships. This summer over 1,000 athletes from all over the Midwest will compete over three days in the annual Enchanted Forest Invitational.
Conner says it might be hard to believe, but other than the Monon Community Center in Carmel, the Forest Park Aquatic Center is the only outdoor pool left that is open to the public in Hamilton County.
Its frankly sad that so many public pools have closed, Conner says. We are extremely fortunate to have a community, administration and city council that values the importance of community assets like the Forest Park Aquatic Center. The mission of our organization is to operate and maintain this wonderful facility for the citizens of Noblesville.
Conner says it is also important to promote water safety and learn-to-swim programs.
Each year thousands of people lose their lives simply because they dont know how to swim, Conner says. We are also committed to ensuring every citizen, regardless of financial conditions, has an opportunity to enjoy our facility. We work very hard to keep our daily admission and membership costs extremely affordable.
During the off-season, the center staff installed a large LED video board.
We are beyond excited about this new amenity and extremely thankful to the generous support of so many in the community that helped make this possible, Conner says. The video board will be used for daily programming such as trivia games and announcements. The most exciting part is that it will allow us to show movies during the day.
With daylight saving time, it doesnt get dark until well after 9 p.m. in the middle of summer.
In the past this really impacted attendance of movies we have shown using a projector, Conner says. This summer we are planning for four movies. In addition, the video board will serve as a scoreboard for swimming and diving events. It will allow us to show each athletes name, time and place. We believe it will allow us to host even larger and more prestigious competitions, bringing even more people to our community.
Forest Park Aquatic Center is located at 1077 Cicero Road in Noblesville. To find out more, call 317-773-4649 or visit forestparkpool.org.
