"We take the geothermal; we do a heat exchange," Reno City Councilwoman Naomi Duerr told KOLO in July 2022, describing the pool that would replace the old Moana Pool at Baker Lane and Moana Lane. "We heat the water in the pool. The second thing is we intend to have this whole pool solar powered."
That was two promises in one quote. Four years later, the one tied to the ground beneath the site is unresolved. The one tied to the roof got council approval this summer. The building was ready for both, but so far only the solar plan has a signed contract.
A Name Borrowed From a Resort
Moana Lane takes its name from Moana Hot Springs, a resort that was itself named after a famous Hawaiian resort-spa. Moana Hot Springs opened on October 29, 1905, on part of the old Haines Ranch, which sat on a geothermal belt running through southwest Truckee Meadows. Its large bathhouse had a pool fed by the natural hot springs. In the following decades the site went through several stages:
- 1907: The Nevada Interurban Street Railway ran a three-mile trolley line out to the resort.
- 1910: Jim Jeffries trained at the springs for his "Fight of the Century" against Jack Johnson.
- 1927: Fire destroyed the original pool house, and it was rebuilt.
- 1957: The City of Reno bought the property and tore down the old buildings.
- 1960: The city opened a covered pool and a wooden ballpark that later hosted the Reno Silver Sox and Reno Padres.
- 2007: The Moana Pool closed because it needed major rehabilitation.
- 2012: The old pool was demolished.
The heat stayed underground. A 2018 University of Nevada, Reno engineering thesis describes the site as part of the Moana Geothermal Area. It identifies a legacy production well, drilled on the property in 1981, that goes down 480 feet and averages 133°F. For comparison, the new outdoor soaking pool is kept in the high 90s. So the water in that old well runs more than 30 degrees hotter than the warmest pool on the deck.
Nevada historic marker No. 234 records the resort's story and was moved to the new Moana Springs site. The most recent photo of it in the public marker database is dated December 25, 2024.
The Building That Opened in 2024
When the council approved phase one in July 2022, the project was estimated at $45 million, including a $9 million pledge from the William N. Pennington Foundation. The finished center cost $52 million, and the Reno Gazette-Journal credited Sierra Nevada Community Aquatics with driving the effort. The city held soft-opening sessions on August 24 and 25, 2024, and cut the ribbon on September 3.
The architects at Van Woert Bigotti chose their words carefully when describing the energy features. According to the 2025 Athletic Business project showcase, the center "incorporates infrastructure for solar and geothermal energy utilization." That means the building was built ready for both. It doesn't say either one was running.
October 2024, About Five Weeks In
On October 11, 2024, Fox Reno reported that Avalon Geothermal had taken its southwest Reno heating system offline and drained it. Seventy-five homes in Manzanita and Warren Estates lost their main heat source. Patrick Walsh-Snow, chief operations officer of Cyrq Energy, said the system was about 30 years old and "simply aging to a point where it can no longer be maintained economically." In its letter, the company put repairs at $15,000 per service connection.
The station then asked what the shutdown meant for the new pool on Moana Lane. Fox Reno reported that the city had first considered using geothermal energy to heat the pools and that the facility has a natural gas backup. The city's statement read, in part:
"While unfortunate, we always had a plan B, which also includes exploring other options for geothermal heating at the pool in the future, if made available."
That is the most recent public word on geothermal at Moana Springs. We haven't found a source since the opening that confirms geothermal heat exchange is running there, lists a well temperature in use, or reports any geothermal savings. "If made available" leaves the question open, and that's the honest status: geothermal at Moana is something the city may revisit, with no announced plan.
The Half That Was Wired in Advance
Solar has a different history because the building was planned around it. Ameresco's Investment Grade Audit says the 2024 construction "included the electrical connection with the capacity for a solar PV system with the intention that the system would be installed at a later date." Since that connection was already in place, the solar plan only needed a contractor and funding.
The city got both. It issued a request for proposals in early 2025, received three proposals in June 2025, chose Ameresco on July 22, 2025, and received the audit in February 2026. On July 22, 2026, a year to the day after that selection, the Reno City Council approved an Energy Performance Contract for a 457 kW-DC photovoltaic system.
The panels will sit on the roof on concrete-ballasted mounts. Ameresco's audit says the installation will pay "special attention to maintaining the Carlisle roof warranty." The audit doesn't call for parking-lot canopies.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| System size | 457 kW-DC |
| Projected first-year production | 746,738 kWh |
| Guaranteed annual production | 672,064 kWh |
| Projected first-year savings | $46,920 |
| Guaranteed annual savings | $42,228 |
| Total turnkey cost | $1,598,322 |
The guarantee is about 10 percent below the projection. That gap is Ameresco's cushion. If you set the projected first-year savings against the turnkey cost, the panels save roughly 3 percent of their price in year one. The city's staff report expects those savings to cover operations and maintenance, with additional savings after that. The two documents disagree on the 20-year net present value: the staff report puts it near $23,465, and Ameresco's audit says $142,144. Neither document explains the difference. Both figures are positive, though, so by either account the project comes out ahead over 20 years.
A Police Station's Tax Credit Helps Pay for the Pool's Roof
The funding has its own local twist. An $800,000 Community Project grant covers about half, secured with help from Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen. The other $838,322 comes from the city's Green Energy Fund. According to the staff report, $758,813 of that amount is a tax-credit direct payment from the solar-and-storage project at the Reno Police Department's Public Safety Center, and $79,509 comes from the fund itself.
So one city solar project is helping pay for the next. The two funding sources add up to $1,638,322, which is $40,000 more than the project cost. The staff report explains the difference as a 5 percent grant administration fee.
What Approval Does Not Yet Mean
Approval doesn't mean the panels are going up. Under the contract, construction can't start until Ameresco has a Notice to Proceed and proof that enough escrow funding is in place. As of early October 2026, we haven't found an announced start date or installation schedule in city materials or local news. The council's July 23 recap mentions the expected savings and nothing about timing.
As of October 2026, here's where Duerr's two promises stand. The rooftop solar is approved and funded, and it's waiting on a start date. Geothermal heat for the pool on Moana Lane is something the city said in 2024 it might explore later, and it hasn't announced a plan since.
Your October at Moana Springs
None of this affects admission or pool hours. Fall drop-in prices from Labor Day through Memorial Day cover open swim and the full facility: $7 for ages 3 to 17, $10 for adults 18 to 59, $8 for seniors 60 and up, and free for children 2 and under. On Community Discount Days, which are Wednesdays and Sundays, open swim alone costs $2 for youth and $4 for adults and seniors.
The open swim schedule that took effect August 10, 2026, runs Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 4 to 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon; Saturday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.; and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Before you pack a bag this month, check these dates on the city's aquatics page:
- October 8: Planned power outage from 2 to 3 p.m.
- October 16: The competition pool is set to 25 yards from 5:30 a.m. to noon, and all pools close at noon for a swim meet.
- October 17 and 18: All pools are closed for the meet. The fitness center stays open.
- October 30: Nevada Day hours are 5:30 a.m. to noon.
The mid-October meet is the Reno Aquatic Club's King of the Hill Challenge, held under Pacific Swimming. It will fill the 10-lane, 50-meter pool that the 2022 plans designed for full competitions.
Projects like the Moana Springs solar array shape what it costs to run the places Lakeside residents use every week, and we keep up with them across Reno's neighborhoods. If you'd like to talk about life near Moana Lane and Virginia Lake, The Mike Wood Team is happy to share what we've learned, whenever the timing suits you.
