After months of contract negotiations, ongoing maintenance issues and faulty equipment installations, officials with the Aiken-Augusta Swim League say the problems at the Augusta Aquatics Center are getting worse.
For the third time, city contractors have installed starting blocks improperly, and despite a newly negotiated contract signed by City Administrator Odie Donald, the Parks and Recreation Department again wants to change the AASL’s access from 13 swimming lanes to eight lanes.
“I am so frustrated; it’s hard to put it into words. This is so unfair to the kids and their families to have to go day-to-day not knowing if they will get a chance to practice or where the practice is going be held,” AASL President Rebecca Harper said. “That’s not to mention the families from out of state that have booked hotels for an event scheduled that I can’t say right now will even happen.”
MORE: Augusta Aquatics Center Faces Continuing Challenges
When the AASL complained about possibly losing five of the lanes it recently contracted to use, Parks and Recreation Department Director Maurice McDowell responded by accusing the group of being selfish and sent a text accusing members and leaders of “acting entitled.”
In June, McDowell told the AASL that its contract was invalid and attempted to use that as leverage to double the rate the organization pays to use the facility and also to limit the number of swimming lanes available.
At the time, McDowell told the Augusta Commission the rate hike was justifiable because most of the members of the AASL reside in Aiken and Columbia counties. McDowell claimed Richmond County residents were pushed out of the facility when the AASL held events, although he could not recall how many residents of Richmond County were members at the center or what they paid in dues.
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In two months of daily observation, the pool complex was almost always empty of patrons, even during the hottest days of summer. The only time the parking lot was full was when the AASL was using the building for meets or practice.
Harper complained to the Augusta Commission that maintenance at the center was almost non-existent. Burnt out light bulbs make the pool area dark, a faulty fire alarm system and an air conditioning system that constantly breaks down cause the building to be more like a sauna than a swim facility, she said.
In late August, the swim league and the city reached a new legal agreement; however, the ink was barely dry on the contract when the city shut the aquatics center down for maintenance that took the entire month of September, leaving the AASL no place to hold indoor swim meets and delaying the start of its new swim season.
The Parks and Recreation Department initially gave no timeline as to how long the facility would be offline, according to Harper.
Harper says that the city announced publicly the natatorium would reopen Oct. 1 but failed to inform her even though the AASL is the largest tenant and pays $4,000 a month to use the facility.
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According to Harper, McDowell never notified the staff of the aquatics center of the new contract with AASL, so the staff began offering swim lanes already rented out by the AASL to local high schools. Instead of recognizing the error on his part, Harper says McDowell tried to cast the swim league as being elitist and not wanting Richmond County high school students to have access to the pools.
“We bend bend bend bend at what point does ASL (sic) to assist with making this work for all parties,” McDowell wrote in a text to Harper.
Greg Gillette, program director for the AASL, says such a charge is ridiculous.
“We want that facility open to everyone, some of those high school swimmers are members of the swim league. Our mission is to promote swimming, and the aquatics center is large enough for everyone to participate, from kids to seniors,” Gillette said.
The AASL has already had to cancel its October competition, and both Harper and Gillette worry that the November intra-state competition, which will bring in around 350 participants and their families from all over the Southeast, may have to be canceled due to the city’s apparent inability to install starting blocks properly at the facility.
The AASL used grant money they secured to help purchase eight starting blocks at a cost of around $16,000. Harper says the group offered to help oversee the installation of the blocks, but McDowell refused the offer, stating the work had to be contracted out by the procurement department.
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Even though the AASL put up a good chunk of the money for the purchase, the starting blocks may be used by everyone, including local high school swim teams.
Contractors have attempted to install the blocks three times, and each time the blocks have been installed in such a way that they do not conform to the measurement standards and regulations of USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport in the United states.
According to Gillette, if the blocks are off by just a few centimeters, the swimmers lap times are not accurate and could cause athletes to forfeit their recorded times.
“I am struggling to understand whether (McDowell) just doesn’t see that or if he just doesn’t care,” Gillette said.
MORE: Troubled Waters At Augusta Aquatics Center
However, McDowell was quick to refute any allegation that he does not care about the situation.
According to McDowell, he was simply asking the AASL to work with him and his office on scheduling times. He said that he had allowed the AASL rent-free access to the Henry Brigham Center. Yet, according to Harper, availability at Brigham has been spotty due to boiler and other maintenance issues at the facility.
“We are going to honor the MOU and give them their 13 lanes even if it means turning away other groups from Richmond County,” McDowell said.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com.
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