Overland High School in Aurora cut the ribbon Friday on a brand-new 35,000-square-foot swimming pool complex, giving the school's swim teams a place to compete at home for the first time in its 48-year history. Cherry Creek School District Interim Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Perry performed the ribbon-cutting honors, with Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman also on hand for the ceremony, which included performances from the Overland marching band, mascot, and cheerleaders.
The new natatorium holds 417,000 gallons of water across an eight-lane, 25-yard competition pool with a diving well, according to Sentinel Colorado. The facility, designed by DLR Group and built by Saunders Construction, also includes spectator seating for more than 300 people, locker rooms, a team room, two classrooms for health classes, and public restrooms serving spectators at the outdoor fields, per the builder's project details.
Overland was the only high school in the Cherry Creek School District without its own pool, a gap that stretched back to the school's 1978 opening. For nearly five decades, Overland swimmers and divers practiced and competed at nearby Utah Park facilities instead, the report notes.
A Municipal Park Filled the Gap for Decades
Utah Park, located roughly 0.3 miles from the Overland and Prairie Middle School campus, has long served as the de facto home base for Overland aquatics, according to a Zillow listing that maps the site's proximity to the school. That relationship dates back decades and extended beyond swimming — in 2019, Utah Park's tennis courts were dedicated to the memory of Woodie Smith, who coached Overland student-athletes at the park for more than thirty years, as reported by Sentinel Colorado.
The arrangement grew complicated last year when Utah Park closed in 2025 to fix water leaks, replace pipes, and repair structural problems, the same reporting shows. The park reopened in April 2026, but the timing underscored just how much Overland's swim program had depended on outside infrastructure it didn't control.
Bond Measure Bankrolled the Build
Construction on the new complex broke ground in May 2025 and was made possible by the $950 million bond package Cherry Creek School District voters approved as Ballot Measure 4B in November 2024. That bond, according to CBS News, funded major capital projects across the district, including phased rebuilding at Cherry Creek High School, expansion of the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus, and deferred maintenance repairs districtwide.
When district staff first pitched the $950 million proposal to the school board in July 2024, the Overland pool was highlighted alongside roughly $300 million in districtwide HVAC, roofing, and structural maintenance needs, per The Villager. The pool project didn't stand alone on the Overland campus, either — bond dollars also funded renovation of the adjacent Institute of Science & Technology building into the Pathways at Overland career-training center and an expansion of the school's automotive technology bays, according to the Cherry Creek School District.
Other Bond Projects Move at Different Speeds
The Overland natatorium is one of several capital projects moving through the district's 2024 bond portfolio, with athletic upgrades also landing at Cherry Creek High School, including stadium, fencing, ticketing plaza and concession improvements, according to Cherry Creek High School Renovation Updates. Not every bond project has stayed on schedule, though. A consolidated elementary campus meant to replace the aging Holly Hills Elementary, built in 1958, and Holly Ridge Elementary, built in 1962, hit permitting delays that pushed its target opening from 2026 to fall 2027, the district says.
Cherry Creek School District serves secondary students across eight high schools and specialized campuses, including Cherokee Trail, Cherry Creek, Eaglecrest, Grandview, Overland, Smoky Hill, Endeavor Academy and the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus. With its pool now open, Overland closes one of the more visible facility gaps among its peer schools.
Swimmers Wait a Little Longer to Dive In
Even with the ribbon cut, Overland's swim teams won't get in the water for official practice right away. The Colorado High School Activities Association allows girls' swim practice to begin November 9, 2026, meaning the Overland girls swim team will start its first home season that same day, per Sentinel Colorado's reporting.
-4.webp?w=160&h=400&fit=crop&crop=edges)
