Natchez swimming pool to stay open for public swimming by September – Mississippi’s Greatest Neighborhood Newspaper

NATCHEZ — The Natchez Adams County Pool will stay open to the general public by September after the Adams County Board of Supervisors echoed actions taken by the City of Natchez throughout its assembly.

The pool had been scheduled to shut after Labor Day, Sept. 1— besides to high school swim groups with scheduled practices on the pool going into October. However, the closure would depart dozens of senior residents with out entry to a pool for train for the reason that Senior Center pool was shut down in May.

About a half-dozen older girls who use the pool for water aerobics lessons crammed the entrance rows of seats at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors assembly. When addressed, spokesperson Maxine McAndrews advocated for the pool to remain open.

Pool Director Sharika Miller stated she hasn’t labored out a precise time exterior of regular pool hours for aerobics lessons or lap swimming, however stated that the pool would stay open by the top of September for public swimming throughout regular hours from 1 p.m. to six p.m.

The pool is not going to be heated, though it has that functionality, she stated.

Board of Supervisors President Kevin Wilson stated the pool is just too costly to maintain heated.

“Ask anyone with a heated pool,” he stated. “The gas bill is astronomical. Now multiply that for a pool that size. We’ve looked at other options, but it’s just not economically feasible to heat it.”

Another difficulty with conserving the pool open in the course of the fall has been staffing, since most, if not all, of the lifeguards are highschool or faculty college students.

Miller stated Tuesday that she had recognized two highschool seniors who get out of faculty sooner than most who’re prepared to work afternoons.

The vote gives one other month of  entry to the train teams and lap swimmers however doesn’t present for a long-term answer to the closing of town’s solely public indoor swimming pool.

The indoor swimming pool within the Natchez Senior Center has been closed since early May, when an organization that providers the pool would now not accomplish that for worry of legal responsibility points. The pool supplied a year-round spot for train lessons that served dozens of seniors and lap swimming entry for folks of all ages.

The Senior Center pool has a leak, and since the pump and different tools wanted to function it are situated indoors, apparently carbon monoxide was being emitted for swimmers to breathe due to poor air flow. Also, the pool’s circulation was not maintaining with requirements for correct chlorination.

The swimming pool was constructed in 1913 when the constructing, initially Carpenter No. 2, was constructed.

Talking with residents who utilized that pool, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson warned earlier this summer time that town might not be capable to afford to make repairs. “It will cost greatly more than the $50,000 we are holding. I’m not going to say what that cost is because (when projects go to bid) that can be used against taxpayers,” he stated. “We are going to have to take this under advisement and see if grant funds are available.”

Alderman Curtis Moroney additionally raised considerations in regards to the long-term way forward for the Senior Center pool. “We all love that pool. I’m really concerned about what we might be able to do and what we might not be able to do. We need to think about alternatives,” Moroney stated. “We might not be able to get this thing going. It sounds like it could turn into an astronomically expensive issue. We just need to put our thinking caps on and be prepared that we might now get this pool back. The elephant in the room is that it does not look good right now.”