Another step toward an aquatic center for the Mobile County Sportsplex was taken on Monday when the Mobile County Commission said it would comply with best management practices connected to a land disturbance permit.

Commissioner Connie Hudson, one of the driving forces behind the aquatic center, said complying with the plan was a housekeeping item which was needed before anything else could be done.

“We’re moving ahead with the project, so all is well,” said Hudson, who added the next step is to get bids.

“The aquatic community has been pursuing this for over 25 years,” Hudson said. “The need has been there and is still growing. There’s great interest in the swim community. Hundreds of young people are involved in swim clubs but we don’t have facilities and that has been the difficult part.”

Hudson said bids will be opened around July 17 and will be awarded on Aug. 12 for the first phase of the project, which is the 50-meter outdoor pool with dive wells and an indoor portion that includes an instructional warmup pool, lockers and restrooms.

The second phase is the short course 25-meter pool.

“This will also bring in sports tourism,” Hudson said. “There will be a lot of tournaments here and we’ll be able to compete with other urban places in the state like Huntsville and Birmingham. It’s exciting and a lot of people are really waiting to see this happen.”

The estimated cost of the project’s first phase is between $18 million and $21 million. The second phase has been estimated at between $8 million to $10 million.

Hudson said the second phase of the soccer complex, which is part of the Sportsplex facility, is also underway with its second phase.

“We’ll be adding four new fields,” she said. “All of this will be going on at the same time they’re constructing the first phase of the aquatic center, so there’s going to be a lot of activity going on from mid to late August.

Hudson said a proposed water park is still in the works.

“We’ve got potential partners we’re working with right now,” she said. “They’re working with the Corps of Engineers on the permitting process, which as we all know is very long. There was a definition of wetlands, so that had to be incorporated into any kind of project they submitted. … It’s still another exciting project that I think will be a great amenity to the Sportsplex.”

This story originally appeared in Call News.