Yucca Valley Aquatics and Recreation Center on track for construction completion by end of 2026

The Yucca Valley Town Council received their 9th quarterly update for the Yucca Valley Aquatics and Recreation Center at Tueday night’s meeting.

Project Manager Jen Manckia-Wagner from the DAHLIN Group Architecture firm presented the update to the Town Council remotely.

First up, delays with the natatorium pool deck have slightly extended the project completion date into late November or early December, according to Wagner. In the previous update, “deck slope issues” with the pool deck were causing contractor delays with the indoor pool, but construction continued elsewhere in the new facility. The natatorium is the building that contains the indoor recreation pool, and Wagner says that the east and west pool decks have been poured, along with a portion of the south side deck.

Those delays didn’t appear to impact other projects in this latest update, with progress shown on the exterior of the building. West side sidewalks have been installed and the driveway on the east side of the site has been poured. Solar canopies in the parking area have also been installed and painted, and signage for the new recreation faciliyt has been installed. Lighting has also been finished on the interior and exterior.

Wagner says that a lot of finishing touches are going in “rapid fire” throughout the building. She gave examples such as gymnasium equipment, scoreboards and backboards being installed. Project Manager Jen Manckia-Wagner has been the presenter for each of the nine updates that the town has recieved and she says that overall, the project has been making steady progress and is currently at 93% complete, with 59 calendar days remaining in the construction timeline.

Deputy Town Manager Curtis Yakimow then discussed what it means when a facility of this size and complexity reaches the end of construction and moves into “operational readiness.” While the building itself is expected to be complete in just under two months, the town is responsible for all of the things inside of the facility such as furniture and audio-visual equipment. Systems inside the facility will need to inspected and signed off, and the San Bernardino County Health Department will do the final sign off on the pool itself.

Yakimow says that a project of this size and scope will most likely have a large “punch list,” which is described as a walkthrough with the design and architecture team to identify anything that the contractor will be required to fix before the town accepts the project as complete.

“Once the project is complete then your clock starts for your one-year warranty for anything that may come up from that. Once a project is substantially complete — which we expect by the end of this year, quarter four of 2026 — we transition to operations in the first quarter of 2027.”

That’s when the YVARC will begin figuring out staffing, administration, and all the things that the 40,000 square foot facility requires to operate smoothly. Deputy Town Manager Yakimow also said that local and Coachella Valley media will be invited to do a walkthrough before the Grand Opening.

“I think that will be really a proud moment for the council as your community and your extended community see what has been a transformational project” Yakimow said to the Town Council.

All five Town councilmembers expressed excitement for the project to wrap up construction and move into those next phases. There was no vote required and the informational update was received and filed.