Renovations begin for 50-year-old Johnson Aquatic Center

Upgrades will include new paint and sound panels, locker room improvements and new roof

It's a building that holds a special place in Zachary Bagby's heart, and not just because he coaches there.

Bagby was a third grader living in Lillington when he discovered swimming. He'd tried soccer, basketball and baseball, but none of those sports connected with him. The son of a college swimmer (his mother competed at College of Charleston), Bagby fell in love with the sport at the pool inside Campbell University's Nathan R. Johnson Aquatic Center.

That September - 30 years ago this month - the building became a temporary home when Hurricane Fran left a path of flooding and destruction from Wilmington to Raleigh, forcing Bagby's family to find shelter for a few days.

"It was a refuge, a place where we could go for running water and to take showers," he recalls. "It was kind of like a safe haven, in a way. It's always been a special place for me."

Now the head coach of Campbell's swim team, Bagby gets to see the aquatic center receive a much-needed facelift. Work began in August to replace the roof on the 50-year-old building, and plans are in place for major upgrades inside, such as new paint, new sound panels, scoreboard upgrades and new heat units for the locker rooms.

The work falls under two major objectives in President William M. Downs' Strategic Plan, announced earlier this year. The building not only sees significant use from Campbell athletes and students, it serves an important role in the community as well as home to swim camps and local swim clubs and as a recreational and rehab facility for nearby residents.

"I am pleased that we have been able to give the Aquatic Center some long overdue attention," Downs said. "Our coach and student-athletes deserve this and more, and we look forward to further elevating the swim experience at Campbell in the future."

Bagby calls the announcedment "great news" for everyone, especially his swimmers.

"Our swimming team has been at the top of the Coastal Athletic Association in terms of GPA, and they represent this University very well," he said. "[The renovations] tell them they're being recognized for their work."

Bagby was promoted to head swimming coach in 2024 after serving as an assistant under longtime head coach Pascal Molinard for six years. Bagby swam collegiately for St. Andrews University and Limestone College and was an NAIA national qualifier in three events while a student-athlete.

Under his guidance, Campbell secured its first CAA medal at the 2024 conference championships, and his team set eight school records that year. The 2025 squad saw two swimmers - Bella Butera and Katarina Gagnon - set school records in the 100 breaststroke and 500 freestyle, respectively. And the program was again named to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America's Scholar All-America Team after owning a combined 3.74 GPA for the academic year.

The 29 swimmers on Campbell's team spend up to 20 hours a week inside the aquatic center, Bagby said.

"They're here Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 6 a.m.; then they're back in the afternoons," he said. "On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they're here for another two hours at different times of the day. Then on Saturdays, we're typically here at 7:30 in the morning, but we do get out for team-building exercises. That said, the building gets a lot of use."

A 1972 artist's rendering of the Johnson Aquatic Center revealed a few amenities - like an outdoor patio - that did not come to fruition in the final plans.

THE NATATORIUM

Campbell University broke ground on the Nathan Robert Johnson Aquatic Center - then called the Natatorium - in 1972. Original plans for the building included an open patio area "on the western exposure" and in addition to the pool, locker rooms and offices, was to also include handball courts, a physical fitness laboratory, a weight room and facilities for the wrestling team.

By 1974, due to rising costs of building materials and labor at the time, Campbell cut back on some of those plans and stuck to focusing on the pool and its amenities.

In October of 1976, the building was formally dedicated in a ceremony where James McDaniel Johnson, a Dunn attorney, spoke in memory of his nephew for whom the building is named, a 1970 Campbell graduate who was killed in an accident. The young man's parents were also on hand for the dedication.

The pool served mostly as a hub for physical fitness for students and the community - and hosted local high school and club practices and swim meets - until 2004, when the University added women's swimming to its athletics roster. The first squad was coached by Molinard and was a member of the Northeast Conference, joining a few schools in the northeast and a few southern schools like Gardner-Webb, North Carolina A&T, Howard and even Florida A&M.

As the building approaches its true 50th birthday this October, it's showing its age.

Sound panels and paint are peeling, there is little heat in the locker rooms during winter months and the scoreboards and clocks could use an upgrade. The last major renovations were made in 2009 to bring drainage up to federal standards and in 2014 when the venue's sound system was updated.

Despite the needs, swimmers like Butera - who is now a graduate assistant for Bagby - love their home away from home.

"I swam in a modest pool in high school [in York, Pennsylvania], and this just feels like home," she said.

The aquatic center has been closed to the public while crews finish the roof work and is expected to open again by next week. The center's website has open swim hours (Mondays through Fridays, noon to 2 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m.) and upcoming closings for lifeguard training, holidays and the annual Swim Alumni Event in October.

Work will continue throughout the semester, and when it's complete, Bagby said the upgrades will be special.

"It's already a privilege to do what I do here, and to see what's happening now, it's all very cool," he said. "Just really a privilege."

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