If you bought a membership at the pool on Westbank Drive this year, who are you actually buying it from? For four years the answer was a private operator. Since this spring, the answer has been Eanes ISD itself, and that change shapes almost everything about how a resident can use the building.
The district's membership page puts it in one sentence. The Eanes Aquatics Center "is owned and operated by Eanes ISD," and all district activities, "including practices, classes, and events," get priority scheduling. Member hours are what's left after that. Once you read the schedule that way, it makes sense, and it tells you whether a membership fits your week.
How the Pool Got Here
The center sits at 4300 Westbank Drive, right next to Westlake High School. It began as a line item in the 2019 bond and spent most of its life under an outside operator before coming back to the district:
- 2019 bond. The district estimated the project at $9,958,150. It noted that Westlake High had no dedicated pool and was renting pool time elsewhere, and it said construction debt would be issued only if operating costs could be substantially offset or eliminated.
- June 2020. The board approved WAQUA LLC to manage the facility, by then estimated at $10.3 million, and cover its operating costs under an initial five-year contract.
- March 2022. The pool opened after pandemic delays. Community Impact reported operations starting March 1 and a grand opening planned for March 26.
- April 7, 2025. Eanes ISD issued termination notices on its contracts for both the pool and the Westlake Athletic & Community Center. Petitions to stop the terminations followed on April 30, 2025.
- May 26, 2026. The board approved a compromise, settlement and mutual release agreement with WAQUA, LLC.
- June 8, 2026. Eanes Aquatics Center memberships went on sale.
The district hasn't published the settlement terms. What residents can see is the result: a single owner-operator whose first job is the district's own swim, dive and water polo programs, plus an annual community membership built around them.
The Member Schedule Is the School Day, Inverted
Here's the published 2026-27 member schedule, which runs June through May:
| Weekdays | Saturday | Weekly total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lap swim | 6 to 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | 7 to 10 a.m. | 28 hours |
| Pickleball | 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | 8 to 10 a.m. | 44.5 hours |
Look at what's missing. The pool has no member hours after 2 p.m. on any day and none on Sunday. The longest stretch is the four-hour block from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., while students are in class. Pickleball members get about 60 percent more court time each week than swimmers get pool time, because the courts don't compete with team practices for lanes.
October falls inside water polo season, which the district lists as August through October and March through April. During those months the morning schedule gets tighter. The membership page says one lap lane is open to members on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings during water polo season. It describes this as a lane added at a time when no lap lanes had previously been available. The district's separate seasonal graphic for "Aug-Oct & Mar-Apr" lists Monday, Wednesday and Friday as 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. only. On Tuesday and Thursday it keeps the 6 a.m. hour alongside the midday block. If you're an early-morning swimmer, check the live schedule on the Eanes Aquatics Center membership page before you build a Monday routine around it.
The district also says member access can be limited or cancelled for district events, scheduled maintenance and holidays, with planned closures posted in advance.
What's Open During Your Hour
The building is bigger than the membership. The facility pages describe a 23,000-square-foot, 518,000-gallon center with an eight-lane, 25-meter stretch pool, two pickleball courts, three diving boards and a playscape. The pool can also be set up for 15 cross-course 25-yard lanes. Seven glass garage doors line each side of the building and can be opened for airflow.
In the water
During member access the pool runs as a Class C pool. The competition diving boards and starting blocks are closed. The membership covers lap swimming. It isn't a family swim-and-splash membership, and the diving well that draws students isn't part of it.
On the courts
Pickleball runs on a reservation system. Each booking covers one court, and a member can bring up to three guests. That guest allowance is specific to pickleball. The rules say the center is otherwise exclusive to members, with an exception for spectators at swim meets and tournaments. So a member can host a weekday doubles game, but it's not clear that a visiting relative can join a lap swim.
At the door
You download the pass through the Hometown Ticketing app, and staff scan the QR code at entry. Each pass is good for one scan a day. Children 14 and under have to be with an adult. The posted rules and ticket page don't list an Eanes ISD residency requirement.
What Joining Costs in October
The full-term prices for June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027 break down like this:
- Individual: $75 a month paid up front ($900), plus a $250 annual operations fee and a $3 ticketing fee, for $1,153
- Family: $125 a month paid up front ($1,500), plus the same $250 operations fee and a $15 ticketing fee, for $1,765
Only the monthly portion is prorated by purchase date. The $250 operations fee is not. Four months into the term, the Hometown Ticketing checkout shows $853 for an individual pass, which is an $850 pass plus a $3 fee, and $1,265 for a family-of-five pass, which is $1,250 plus $15.
As a CPA-minded aside, the fixed fee changes the math for anyone joining late. At $853 for the eight months left in the term, an individual member pays about $107 a month. That's more than the roughly $96 a month a June buyer paid for the full year. The family pass is the better deal per person. A full-year family pass costs $612 more than an individual one and covers a household of up to five.
Then compare the price with the hours. At 28 scheduled pool hours a week, almost all of them before 2 p.m., the membership works out best for a retiree, a remote worker, a parent with a free midday, or anyone who plays weekday pickleball. A household whose free time starts at 5 p.m. would get very little pool time for the money.
The Programs That Share the Building
The district's priority use isn't just varsity practice. Eanes ISD's October enrichment catalog lists Westlake Aquatics Club Diving at the Eanes Aquatic Center, led by head coach D'Anna White. It has sections for ages 6 to 12 and 13 to 18, meets Mondays and Wednesdays, and accepts beginners. The younger group runs from October 5 to October 28, skips October 12, and costs $291.20 for seven sessions. The older group costs $312 for eight sessions.
That's the only way a child gets onto the diving boards closed during member swim. The district also promises member discounts on any camps, clinics and programs the center runs. It also takes rental inquiries for meets, camps, clinics, team events and birthday parties, though it says availability may be limited. No public schedule for fall swim lessons or water fitness classes was posted at the time of writing.
The Athletic Center Next Door Runs on a Different Timeline
The pool's settlement didn't settle everything. The Westlake Athletic & Community Center went through the same 2025 termination notices but has followed a separate path. Under its original agreement, title to the WACC building passed to Eanes ISD after ten years of operations, in December 2025. The district has also said a change in ownership would not affect how the building is managed or its memberships.
The latest entry in the district's timeline, dated July 24, 2026, says both parties went back to settlement talks and agreed to pause the litigation for 12 months. Current operations continue during the pause. So a gym membership and a pool membership on the same campus now run under two different setups. The pool's rules and hours come from Eanes ISD. The athletic center stays with its current operator at least through the pause, which on that timeline runs until about late July 2027.
Questions like these come up whenever we talk with buyers and sellers about the Eanes area. Who runs the pool? When can you actually use it? What does a household pay for access to the facilities near them? At Propertysmith Realty, we track these details because they affect how a home in this district gets used day to day. If you'd like to know how amenities like this one figure into your home's value, request your personalized home valuation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
