Blach Construction Completes Miwok Aquatic and Fitness Center on College of Marin’s Indian Valley Campus

College of Marin’s Indian Valley Campus Receives State-of-the-Art Aquatic and Fitness Facilities

"Its completion marks an important step in refreshing COM’s idyllic Indian Valley Campus, delivering a host of wellness resources to the wide array of user groups, ages and fitness levels which it draws together."

"Its completion marks an important step in refreshing COM’s idyllic Indian Valley Campus, delivering a host of wellness resources to the wide array of user groups, ages and fitness levels which it draws together."

Its completion marks an important step in refreshing COM’s idyllic Indian Valley Campus, delivering a host of wellness resources to the wide array of user groups, ages and fitness levels which it draws together.

"Its completion marks an important step in refreshing COM’s idyllic Indian Valley Campus, delivering a host of wellness resources to the wide array of user groups, ages and fitness levels which it draws together."

Blach Construction happily announces completion of the Miwok Aquatic and Fitness Center for the College of Marin (COM). A design-build effort on behalf of long-time partners Blach Construction (Blach) and ELS Architecture and Urban Design (ELS), the new 19,500 sq.ft. facility is now open on COM’s Indian Valley Campus (IVC). The long-awaited addition to the IVC provides a much-needed health and wellness resource for students, staff and the campus’ surrounding community.

Replacing aging and inadequate facilities, Miwok Center includes a state-of-the-art fitness center featuring a wide range of cardio equipment, free weights, weight machines and spaces dedicated to group fitness. Visible from the building’s main lobby lie three outdoor pools: an Olympic-size pool, lap pool and dive pool complete with a 10-meter-high dive tower punctuating the impressive aquatic arrangement. Surrounding support areas house locker rooms, fitness education classrooms, staff offices, a welcoming lobby and necessary storage.

The Miwok Center was conceptualized around the input of nearly eight stakeholder groups ranging from collegiate and community pool users to maintenance staff, the COM student body, College board trustees and the academic senate. The project’s design-build advantage allowed Blach and ELS to collaborate at the earliest phases of the project, adjusting models and projections quickly, skillfully maximizing the client’s budget.

Once complete, Miwok Center was enthusiastically embraced by COM and the surrounding community, fulfilling the center’s joint purpose to serve both parties. When school is not in session, Miwok Center will be available for community educational, competitive and recreational programming, such as swim classes, team meets, youth camps and more. It received a 2022 Professional Design Award from the Community College Facilities Coalition (CCFC) and a 2022 Concrete Masonry Merit Award for Education Design from the Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada.

“This striking project was made possible through close collaboration with our trusted design-build partner ELS,” said Keith Craw, vice president of operations at Blach Construction. “Its completion marks an important step in refreshing COM’s idyllic Indian Valley Campus, delivering a host of wellness resources to the wide array of user groups, ages and fitness levels which it draws together.”

Meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum-equivalent standards, the project helps to reduce the school’s environmental footprint via the use of incorporated geothermal and photovoltaic (PV) energy systems, as well as the use of strategic shading and daylighting throughout the project’s design.