It’s not yet complete, but Seneca Valley School District’s new natatorium is showing signs of life.

The district on Thursday filled the pool in its new Aquatic Center for the first time, bringing the building closer to completion.

“Our swimmers are really excited to have the opportunity to swim in one of the premiere facilities in Western Pennsylvania every day, to practice in that premiere facility,” Sherry Hockenberry, a parent volunteer with the Seneca Valley Swim Club, said. “It’s going to be a huge change from the current pool that is aged and has lived its life.”

Hockenberry added that the swim club expects to attract new members in the newer building.

“The old pool was very aged, and it’s going to be a refreshing change to be in a nice, new facility,” she said. “This new facility’s going to allow us to grow our club in the future.”

The district first approved an agreement with an architectural firm to design the building to replace its current pool, which is more than a half-century old, in August 2017. They broke ground on the $12.6 million facility on Sept. 16, 2019, and originally intended to open the building in the spring of 2020.

Seneca Valley students from all three schools on the high school campus, along with a local artist and art teacher, helped to design a mural to adorn the new facility. The mural, an 8-foot tall, 16-foot wide mosaic, was presented to the board in November and features the district’s “SV” logo, along with two swimmers and two divers inside of a pool, with waves crashing on either side of the mural.

The natatorium is being constructed next to the Intermediate High School, and will likely be completed by the end of February, the district said.