The existing pool at Hempstead High School was nearly 50 years old and leaking around 4,000 gallons of water each week. The pool eventually had to be closed because the soil conditions under the pool were saturated with water, it didn’t meet competition standards, and the facility wasn’t “user friendly”.

The school district chose to build a new 31,000 sq. ft. natatorium on the Hempstead High School campus, built in partnership with the Dubuque Area Swimmin' Hurricanes, or DASH. DASH proposed a 25-year agreement in which it could use the pool when it is not in use by the district in return for raising $1 million to cover the cost of expanding the width of the pool from 60 ft. to 75 ft. and stretching the length of the pool to include a short course lap pool and a diving pool separated by a floating bulkhead.