Aquatic group works to offer year-round pool access to north Minneapolis
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Since north Minneapolis’ only public indoor pool closed in 2007, a group formed a swimming and triathlon team to ensure young people continued to swim. Now the organization V3 Sports is on the verge of restoring year-round access to a pool, and more.
V3 has long worked to close the racial gap in swimming safety. The organization is now offering programs that involve biking, swimming and running.
Although the organization's main mission is teaching families to swim, the group wants to promote healthier living in a bigger way. The center, at Plymouth and Lyndale Avenues, is planned to have a family restaurant focused on healthy food, a fitness center and child care programming partnered with the Boys and Girls Club.
The aquatic program manager at V3 Molly Belk, said the community's input was the driving force for the new facility.
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“We’re building a facility that’s gonna bring in all the amazing things that already exist in north Minneapolis,” said Belk.
They are also building two swimming pools. A 25-yard, five lane pool for instruction and a separate therapy pool to provide a space for seniors and others.
The new facility is still under construction and isn't expected to open until March 2024. A state grant is helping with the costs. The organization is also raising money.
The start of a second construction phase will depend on funding. If that comes through, V3 will add four multi-purpose courts and an indoor Olympic-sized pool with 1,000 spectator seats. Director of strategic communication Malik Rucker said this pool would be among the largest in the state.
“It makes V3 a regional destination so now we’ll be able to have regional national and local events that drive business into our community and into our economy,” said Rucker.
In the meantime, V3’s aquatics expert Ayanna Rakhu is running a summer program called Swim to Learn at Franklin Middle School’s pool.
V3 partners with youth programs on the northside like Urban Strategies to teach young people how to be confident when swimming.
“It’s good to see people literally walk from their houses over to Franklin and smell the food cooking, see us playing outside with bubbles and playing in the pools and sprinklers and then coming in and seeing there’s a pool here. So a lot of people don't even know there's a pool at Franklin Middle School let alone know that we're gonna be building a pool just up the block,” Rakhu said.
She said Black people in particular need to swim.
“It's important to connect people to the water because water is healing,” Rahku said. “It's fun and it also has an economic benefit of one day maybe being a lifeguard or swimming instructor or marine biologist or whatever you wanna do whatever you wanna do the world is really open to you, because most of the world is water.”