Three new Columbus public pools set to open in 2024
You may remember last year, the City of Columbus announced plans for public pools to reopen this summer, after being closed for quite some time. Now, three public pools in the Fountain City are set to be reconstructed in a $15 million dollar project... and open in May of next year.
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Summer is right around the corner... and that means pool time!
You may remember last year, the City of Columbus announced plans for public pools to reopen this summer, after being closed for quite some time. Now, three public pools in the Fountain City are set to be reconstructed in a $15 million dollar project... and open in May of next year.
“We should be swimming in the pools not this summer but next summer,” Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson said.
Locks are blocking entry to pools across Columbus and will remain there for one more year.
The pools, which were closed last summer as temperatures hit triple digits, left many Muscogee County families with questions.
Mayor Henderson explained the renovations of three pools are taking some time because they’re being funded through the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or SPLOST.
“We’re paying... a pay-as-you-go type process, so we have to receive the funds to expend them,” Henderson told News Leader 9′s Ashlee Williams.
There are five public pools in the City of Columbus, located inside Psalmond Road and Shirley B. Winston recreation centers, plus one on Double Churches Road, another on Rigdon Road and the newest - an indoor pool at the Columbus Aquatic Center on Macon Road.
Director of Columbus Parks and Recreation, Holli Browder, said the Double Churches and Aquatic Center pools will be the only ones open this summer. She explained that she’s excited to soon unveil the renderings for the new pools.
“The design process is over for the most part, and now we’re into doing the fine tuning... picking out the colors and themes, and it’s really the creativity side,” Browder said. “We really want these facilities to be something our community is proud of and our kids are excited about.”
Browder told us each pool will have the same amenities but with different themes and colors.
Meantime, you can pick up a ‘summer fun pass’ for kids 18 and under who live in Muscogee County, giving free access to the public pools and much more.
“Also as part of that summer fun pass, they are given transportation if they want to use Metra in the summer, they can use Metra anywhere in the city for free, Browder said. “There are also a lot of other free programs attached to that.”
You can pick up those summer fun passes at several places across the city in May.
Five new splash pads are also in the works for construction.
The Double Churches Road pool will open on Memorial Day this May.
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