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Etowah pool could be replaced thanks to $300,000 gift

A $300,000 gift to the city of Etowah could result in a new swimming pool to replace the dilapidated pool at the corner of Sixth Street and Louisiana Avenue. The old pool has not been used, at least by humans, in several years. Here, some baby bullfrogs are bracketed by some bigger ones all of whom appear to be in need of lounge chairs.
A $300,000 gift to the city of Etowah could result in a new swimming pool to replace the dilapidated pool at the corner of Sixth Street and Louisiana Avenue. The old pool has not been used, at least by humans, in several years. Here, some baby bullfrogs are bracketed by some bigger ones all of whom appear to be in need of lounge chairs. A $300,000 gift to the city of Etowah could result in a new swimming pool to replace the dilapidated pool at the corner of Sixth Street and Louisiana Avenue. The old pool has not been used, at least by humans, in several years. Here, some baby bullfrogs are bracketed by some bigger ones all of whom appear to be in need of lounge chairs.

By Ben Benton 3 min read

ETOWAH, Tenn. — The bullfrogs basking in the sun don’t mind the aging condition of Etowah’s nearly 45-year-old pool, but a local resident has offered $300,000 to pair up with grant money to build a new one for the city’s humans.

The old pool at Sixth Street and Louisiana Avenue was state of the art when it was built in 1970. City leaders had been discussing a pool for the community beginning in the 1960s, according to Parks and Recreation Director Brian Silber.

But by the 1990s, the pool was showing its age and maintenance costs were starting to mount, Silber said. In 2007, city leaders finally closed the pool.

The pool doesn’t leak; it’s full to a standard level. But the filtration system’s pipes under the concrete leak badly, the chlorination system doesn’t work at all, and almost everything else there falls short of requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Act, Silber said. The latter act refers to safety requirements specific to public pools.

photo A $300,000 gift to the city of Etowah could result in a new swimming pool to replace the dilapidated pool at the corner of Sixth Street and Louisiana Avenue. The old pool has not been used, at least by humans, in several years. Here, some baby bullfrogs are bracketed by some bigger ones all of whom appear to be in need of lounge chairs.
photo The old pool in Etowah, Tenn., hasn’t been in use since around 2007 and is out of standard for safety and accessibility. An anonymous donor has offered $300,000 to team with grant funding for a new pool.

Etowah, home to about 3,500 people, already has a fun water project underway in the form of a splash pad, which will be built on the site of the old pool. Silber hopes that project, being funded by a Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant, is completed by next spring. The city needs to finish that to be able to apply for another grant to go with the $300,000 donation.