At a meeting Thursday hosted by the South Whidbey Parks & Recreation District, 42 local residents expressed overwhelming support for an aquatic center.

Principal architect Jeff Anderson divided the crowd into groups, gave each $12 million to spend and asked them to prioritize their preferences for a community, recreation and aquatic center to be built on park property on Maxwelton Road and funded by a proposed tax levy increase.

Though most agreed that meeting rooms and facilities for senior services and park programs were important, the overwhelming choice revolved around leisure and lap pools — including water slides, hot tubs and saunas — that would generate income while meeting the needs of the community.

O.R.B Architects will gather the data, including updated island demographics, and hold another meeting to reveal the results and cost estimates for the project in mid-July.