What Changed at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center Is in the Air Above the Water

Swimmers at 595 North Franklin Street were getting more than chlorine. In a June 2025 letter to Christiansburg Town Council, Town Manager Randy Wingfield said rust was dropping from the ceiling onto customers and employees and running down the windows and walls. He said ceiling panels were being replaced every few weeks because mold had turned up in the offices. "Ceiling insulation in the form of white, soft chunks, is falling onto staff and patrons in the water," he wrote.

The pools were never the problem. Since then the Town has budgeted more than $11 million for the building's air, and you won't see most of that work from the water. The best way to judge it is the October calendar. Virginia Tech hosted a swim meet there today, and later this month the facility runs a Halloween workout in the deep end of the competition pool, which closed for HVAC work in late May.

The chemistry under the ceiling

An indoor pool is a humidity machine, and the Aquatic Center had no dehumidification system to handle it, according to Wingfield's letter. His letter drew on a Setty HVAC evaluation of the building, released July 31, 2023, which explained why the air felt bad. Organic material from swimmers reacts with chlorine coming off the water and forms chloramines, which are heavier than air. If treated air doesn't displace or dilute them, they cause air quality problems in the breathing zone, where swimmers can feel them.

Setty didn't blame the equipment alone. The report said the poor air quality readings came from "a combination of water chemistry issues and less than optimal mechanical ductwork distribution layout." Its conclusion was still replacement. The report cited the units' age, their poor financial efficiency and their inability to meet the air standards in the Model Aquatic Health Code and ASHRAE guidance.

That explains where the money went. The Town replaced the air handling and the way air moves across each pool deck, not the pools or the lanes.

What the moisture was costing

Wingfield's letter showed that the damage went past what patrons could see. In his account, the humidity had spread through the building and into the budget:

1. The structure. "Excessive moisture is accumulating in the building's structural blocks, leading to breakage," he wrote. The letter also described deteriorating bolts holding up the lights.
2. The gas lines. Rusted, corroded lines had caused gas leaks in the packaged air conditioning units. A leak in winter would mean a shutdown of at least 10 weeks.
3. The fire system. Corrosion and poor air made the fire safety system unreliable, which brought "frequent emergency service callouts for false alarms." The Setty report includes a photo of a corroded sprinkler head.
4. The electronics. Humidity contributed to replacing scoreboards, time clocks and computers.
5. The repair bills. Since August 2022, HVAC repairs alone had cost $201,455, not counting lifts, wages and manpower.
6. The swim meets. Losing several competitive meets cost the Town an estimated $80,000 to $100,000 in direct revenue. The letter put the wider economic impact at $3 million to $4 million, including meals and lodging tax revenue.

The letter also said patrons and athletes had reported going to the emergency room with coughing, asthma, headaches and other illnesses. These were reports passed along to officials, not medical findings. Still, they helped explain why council members treated the project as urgent. Council member Johanna Hicks called the air quality "a health hazard right now" and moved the contract to a work session to get more warranty information. Council member Tanya Hockett said action was an "urgent need" and noted that the Town had already saved money for the project.

The swim meets are the item to watch. Lost meets were the cost that showed up in local hotels and restaurants as well as in the pool's own books. A full collegiate meet back on deck is the clearest public sign the building can compete again.

How the fix was staged

The construction contract before council in June 2025 was $10.587 million. In April 2026, Cardinal News reported the full HVAC project at more than $11 million across two budgets: $9.5 million in the 2025–26 budget and another $1.6 million proposed for 2026–27. That spending came in a budget that proposed no tax increases.

The Town worked through the building in phases so parts of it could stay open:

• Phase 1A, competition pool deck: substantially complete as of the Aquatic Advisory Board's June 3, 2026 meeting, with commissioning still underway on PAC Unit #1.
• Phase 1B, leisure pool deck: also substantially complete in June, with PAC Unit #4 still being commissioned. The leisure and therapy pools, which had been closed, were open again.
• Phase 2: in progress in June. The board estimated substantial completion and a reopening in late July.

The facility calendar listed the competition pool as closed for HVAC work on May 27, 2026. The late-July date was a forecast. The board's August 5 agenda still listed "Competition pool reopening date" as a discussion item. The public record doesn't give an exact reopening date. It does show where things stand now. On October 3, Virginia Tech hosted a women's tri-meet at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, where the Hokies beat Liberty 240-113 and Penn State 312-41.

October is the first full test

This month's calendar uses the whole building, including the deep competition pool that was the last area to come back. For residents, these are the dates to know, all at 595 North Franklin Street:

• Wednesday, Oct. 7, 4:30 p.m.: Aquatic Advisory Board meeting, open to the public. This is the board that has been tracking the reopening and the grand opening date.
• Friday, Oct. 9, 5:30 to 8 p.m.: Pumpkin Splash Patch, the 6th annual floating pumpkin patch, with mermaids, a pirate and pumpkin decorating. It requires preregistration, which opened Sept. 23, and is for ages 3 and up. Children 2 and under get in free but don't receive a pumpkin. The event listing says the facility closes at 5 p.m. that day and earlier swimmers must leave and re-enter. A separate calendar entry lists a 3 p.m. closure for event setup, so confirm the time before planning an afternoon swim.
• Friday, Oct. 16, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.: Family Fun Swim Night at half-price admission. No registration needed; pay at the door.
• Friday, Oct. 23, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.: CAC Kid and Teen Takeover. Kids get recreational swim time with certified lifeguards, then pizza, a kid-friendly movie and a themed craft to take home.
• Wednesday, Oct. 28, 5:30 to 8 p.m.: Paint and Swim. It starts with a guided Halloween painting or craft, warm apple cider and treats, followed by recreational swim from 7 to 8 p.m. Preregistration runs through Oct. 26, and rates aren't prorated for anyone who skips the swim.
• Thursday, Oct. 29: Halloween H2O Workout at 9:30 a.m., then the JACKED O' Lantern Workout at 6 p.m. The evening session is a high-intensity class in the competition pool with burpees, squats, treading water and laps, all done with a pumpkin. Participants must be comfortable in water 7 to 17 feet deep and must preregister. Anyone who finishes takes the pumpkin home.

These events are a simple way to judge the air for yourself. When the competition pool was last fully open, the Town Manager was describing rust on the windows and insulation in the water. A crowded Friday family night and a deep-water class are the conditions the new system was built to handle.

What comes after the air

The HVAC work is only the first project on the site. In April 2024, Town Council approved a power purchase agreement with Sun Tribe Solar for rooftop solar at both the Recreation Center and the Aquatic Center. The News Messenger reported combined carbon-emissions avoidance of 11,480 tons for the two buildings. By the June 2026 board meeting, the Aquatic Center installation was substantially complete, and MEI was waiting on a telemetry device.

The same minutes said construction on the H2Okie Dryland Fitness Building will start once the HVAC work is finished. When the project was announced in August 2025, the Radford News Journal described a 1,500-square-foot facility where H2Okie swimmers would train out of the water, with no competitions planned there. It would go on a lot behind the Aquatic Center at Mill and Depot streets under a 30-year agreement with the Town. The estimated cost then was about $800,000, split three ways among the club's reserves, local financing and a capital campaign. Kessler Construction was expected to build it over about six months. Those cost and timing figures date from 2025. The June 2026 minutes give the order of work but no updated cost or start date.

As of the June meeting, the grand opening for the renovated center was unscheduled, and the minutes listed the date as "to be determined." The Oct. 7 advisory board meeting is the next public setting where the date could come up.

A building's mechanical systems rarely make a listing sheet, but buyers end up living with them. If you're weighing a Christiansburg home, are curious what an aging HVAC system might be costing you, or just want a local read on what the Town is investing in near North Franklin Street, Wendy Swanson and the Swanson Team are glad to talk it through, with no pressure and plenty of local context. Contact Us whenever you're ready.