A NEW Community Center FOR NORTHSHORE
Needs Assessment and Feasibility Study
A map showing the boundaries of the Northshore Parks and Recreation Service Area.
The Northshore Parks and Recreation Service Area (NPRSA) is undertaking a formal needs assessment and feasibility study to plan for a potential new community center. This center builds on strong community interest in more indoor recreation and aquatics options for all ages, and would serve people across Bothell, Kenmore, Woodinville, and nearby areas. The study is being conducted by ARC Architects.
This study began in Spring of 2024 and has already:
Identified gaps in community services within the service area, emphasizing the needs of youth;
Described a desired program or type of facility to meet those needs;
Identified a site that would best serve the needs of the communities in the service area;
Created design options for a proposed building and its amenities;
Performed a cost analysis and an operational plan;
Incorporated feedback from two community surveys; and
Informed future NPRSA levies and bond planning
The proposed center would be located on a site in Woodinville that ARC Architects and NPRSA have reviewed for environmental feasibility and other characteristics. NPRSA continues to work closely with local partners to explore how this community center could support the district’s recreational needs.
WhAt we’ve heard
What did we learn from the first community survey?
In the first survey conducted in 2024, community members expressed strong interest in a new community center that supports aquatics and indoor recreation for youth, teens, adults, and older adults. Respondents emphasized the value of inclusive, multi-generational spaces that promote health, wellness, and recreation.
To review a summary of the results from the first survey, please click here: Survey 1 Results
What happened after Survey 1?
Since completing the first survey, ARC Architects and NPRSA made several important steps:
Identified a preferred site for the potential community center in Woodinville.
Completed an environmental assessment of the site.
Conducted a site test-fit analysis to evaluate how many of the community-identified programs and functions could fit within the site’s buildable area.
This work resulted in three preliminary concept designs for the proposed community center. Each concept was based on the preferred program identified in Survey 1, but they differed in layout, scale, and how space was prioritized within the site. NPRSA shared these concept designs in Survey 2, asking the community to refine their preferences and share what mattered most.
Preliminary Concept Designs
What did we learn in Survey 2?
In early 2026, NPRSA shared a second survey which asked the community to review and provide feedback on the three possible design concepts for the new center. More than 1,300 people shared their thoughts.
Overall, the results showed clear and consistent priorities:
Aquatics is the top priority. Pools were the most important feature to survey respondents across all concepts, especially warm-water recreation and therapy pools, and even competition-sized pools with diving space.
There is a strong preference to maximize space for pools. A majority of respondents preferred the concept design with three pools over concepts that offered other, non-aquatics type of space.
Respondents preferred including active recreation and athletics facilities in the community center over unprogrammed gathering and hangout spaces.
What Comes Next
Based on community feedback from Survey 2, ARC Architects and NPRSA have refined a preferred design concept that prioritizes aquatics while balancing cost, site constraints, and long-term community benefit. This preferred option, pictured below, was presented to the NPRSA Board for consideration as the project advances into future planning and design phases. The survey participation has been helping NPRSA in planning and decision-making, but it does not represent final approval. Additional steps, reviews, and Board actions will be required before the project can move forward. Community input has shaped this project from the beginning and will continue to guide next steps, and NPRSA will be sure to share those updates.
This architectural diagram shows a more refined version of Concept C from Survey 2. This is not the final design.
Frequently Asked Questions
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While this project focuses primarily on the needs of youth, we want to include the needs and priorities of the entire community. NPRSA and ARC Architects are working with representative members of the community, including youth and schools, to make sure this center can best serve our community’s needs and provide its desired programming and amenities.
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NPRSA approached this study with all options and outcomes in mind, holding no preconceptions about the type of services or facilities that youth in the district may want or need. Community feedback across multiple outreach efforts has consistently identified aquatics as the top priority for this district. Residents have been especially interested in warm-water pools for recreation, therapy, and year-round use, as well as space for swim lessons and competitions. The final design is still being refined.
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No funding has been secured yet. If the project moves forward, one of the funding options is to create a new levy in the district. Recent community feedback in Survey 2 showed that many people are open to supporting a community center that reflects priorities and understand that this may include a cost to the public. Before making any funding decisions, NPRSA will share detailed information about costs and potential impacts to taxpayers.
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A preliminary cost analysis is one of ARC Architects’ deliverables as part of this study. Based on that analysis, NPRSA may ask a levy consultant to assess the levy/bonding capacity of the district. This evaluation would help determine if a levy or bond measure to finance the construction of a facility is likely to pass. The levy consultant may also help craft ballot measure language, educate voters about the measure, and organize support.
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A pool is a basic facility, generally with a shallower end for recreational swimming and a deeper end for diving, which can be separated into lanes for competitions.
An aquatics center is more elaborate and includes multiple amenities, such as several pools for different kinds of swimming, a lazy river, waterslides, and splash pads. But it still has a specific purpose: namely, aquatics.
NRPSA has been studying the potential need for multipurpose spaces that can support a wider variety of programming and activities, of which aquatics or other athletics may be only one component. A “community center” is a convenient, recognizable term for this sort of multifunction facility. The final name for the facility has not yet been chosen.
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While other cities have not successfully passed pool or community center levies recently, the studies prepared in support of those levies have consistently shown both a growing need and community interest in the construction of such a facility.
As a multi-municipality taxing district, NPRSA is uniquely positioned to build a facility by spreading the tax burden across a larger area, lessening the impact to individual taxpayers (and potentially allowing the construction of a larger facility than any of the member agencies would be able to afford on their own).