Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Texas K–12 District Opens Natatorium at Local YMCA

  • By Matt Jones
  • 06/06/23

The Crowley Independent School District in Fort Worth, Texas, recently celebrated a grand opening for the CISD Natatorium at the Ryan Family YMCA, according to a news release. The facility provides a UIL-appropriate venue for the district’s high-school swim teams, as well as allowing the YMCA to offer swimming and water-safety programs to CISD students and the community at large.

“This project is a long time coming, and our students and community deserve this,” said Daryle Moffett, Crowley ISD Executive Director of Athletics. “Not only will our student-athletes from both the CHS and NCHS swim teams benefit from having access to a pool that meets UIL requirements for competitions, students and adults of all ages will have the opportunity to take part in swim and water safety classes offered by the Y here.”

The district partnered with VLK Architects for the project’s design. The Natatorium includes large, open windows along the north wall to fill the space with natural light. Other amenities include a new scoreboard for swimming competitions, new bleachers, and a new pool that doubles the lane space available. Locker rooms feature ADA-compliant fixtures, and new MEP systems have been improved to offer dehumidification.

Funding for the project comes from a previous bond package, the news release reports.

“We worked with CISD and the YMCA to provide a natatorium that maximized the footprint delivering the programmatic needs of the district and the YMCA,” said Lauren Brown, VLK Architects Principal. “The community has enjoyed this facility for years, and now the improvements will allow for recreation and competition for years to come.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • UCF Modernizes College of Hospitality Management

    The University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla., recently completed a major renovation effort for the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, according to a news release. The project modernized 77,600 square feet worth of academic classrooms, teaching labs, and collaborative spaces to support both students and faculty.

  • GeoCam and UCLA: Modernizing Campus Accessibility Mapping

    In early 2025, UCLA partnered with GeoCam to capture and modernize its pedestrian infrastructure data. The goal was ambitious but clear: to produce a high-accuracy, imagery-backed digital map of every sidewalk, pathway, ramp, and ADA-related feature on UCLA’s 419-acre campus.

  • California Middle School Breaks Ground on Major Renovation Project

    The Hillsborough City School District (HCSD) in Hillsborough, Calif., recently began construction on new multipurpose and administration facilities for Crocker Middle School, according to a news release.