(By MATT PIKE)
Savannah will not be getting a new aquatics facility after all.
Instead, after several discussions with professionals, the Andrew County Aquatics Initiative has decided to keep and renovate the current pool facility in Savannah.
President Diane Gould says after reviewing the pool with the professionals, it showed the facility was in good shape, but needed some work
“They came to the conclusion that we could have a really nice facility that, to anyone who didn’t know, will appear to be and will function like a brand-new facility for under $1 million,” Gould tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post
Gould says a new facility, that was essentially the same as what already existed in Savannah, would have cost around $6 million to build.
The fundraising goal for the project is still short by around $165,000. A trivia night will be held on March 21st, which is also when the Andrew County Aquatics Initiative hopes to hit the goal.
Gould says today will begin the first steps towards reopening the pool as they get ready for renovations at the facility.
“There is a company coming out to do what is called a pressure test on the pool to make sure that we’re leak tight, we’ve done a few things to get prepared for that, change some valves and fixed a few things,” Gould explains
Gould says once that test gets passed.
“As long as we get an A+ on that, we will be pushing forward and probably, hopefully breaking ground in a few weeks,” Gould says.
Gould says the hope is to be able to have the Savannah Pool open by the Memorial Day holiday.
Gould says the way things have fallen into place with this project have been really exciting
“I got a call from a company who renovates old water slides just a couple days ago, and they were interested in coming, and it’s like things are just falling into place in such a way that I’m like man I feel like God’s just shining down on this project and its opening all the doors and making the right decisions really obvious,” Gould says.
(You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.)