Decatur has struck a lease agreement with the Samuel L. Jones Boys & Girls Club to use its indoor pool on a year-round basis.
The pool hasn’t been used in several years, and Decatur Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne estimates it will cost about $53,000 to upgrade it. The work isn’t extensive, she said, mostly repair and updating the plumbing.
The major cost, roughly $271,000 worth, will go toward building new restrooms, locker facilities, and sidewalk leading to the pool’s newly constructed entrance.
Construction should begin by the first of next year and the pool should open by late spring early summer. Though intended mostly for city use, the pool will be shared with the Boys and Girls Club and the Decatur High swim team.
Decatur has had a long-time interest in purchasing the club’s entire five acres, which was once part of Oakhurst Park until the city sold it off in the early 1970s. But Menne said the pool agreement shouldn’t be viewed as a precursor to purchasing the whole club.
“I take this one step at a time,” she said. “This is a long-term process and [The Jones Club] still has a vibrant program.”
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