Of all the swimming spots in Columbia County, none are publicly owned.
The county boasts plenty of places to go swimming. The Augusta Jewish Community Center in Evans offers pool memberships. Dolphin Academy in Evans on Washington Road specializes in swimming classes. Apartment complexes, neighborhoods and subdivisions have community pools, many of which offer memberships even for non-residents.
MORE: Troubled Waters At Augusta Aquatic Center
But there is no public community pool or aquatics center in Columbia County.
Cyndi Griffin and Lynn Carswell are sisters, schoolteachers and swim moms who have spent years questioning, challenging and ultimately trying to remedy this situation. In June, they made their efforts official with the establishment of Swim Columbia County, a local advocacy group seeking to bring an indoor year-round swimming facility to the county.
[adrotate banner=”54″]
Carswell’s children are already grown while Griffin’s are teenagers. Carswell has lived in Columbia County for over 20 years and Griffin for 10. Both have struggled, navigating having children who swim in a county where many swimming facilities are still largely members-only.
Griffin recalls when her daughter was involved with the Aiken-Augusta Swim League and the difficulties that entailed.
“When she first wanted to do ASL, they were offering it at Riverwood. They had a tent for the pool, and so I said we can do that since it’s not so far away,” said Griffin. “She was doing it for about a year and then they removed the tent. So, we ended up going to the Aquatic Center just about every day of the week.”
Griffin would talk with other Columbia County parents taking their children to the Augusta Aquatics Center, and many of them found it frustrating not to have a public pool where they lived.
That was 10 years ago. Residents have attempted to speak up about the matter over the years.
“They always say, ‘We’ve tried it before; we always get shot down,’” said Griffin. “They’re just kind of defeated.”
A public swimming facility was voted down as a SPLOST item in 2008.
“It’s the one SPLOST in the county that didn’t pass, and so there are some people who are afraid to try it again,” Griffin said.
The county has grown and the demographics have changed since then. So what has been the hold up?
[adrotate banner=”30″]
“I think one reason it failed before is because there are so many private pools in Columbia County. So if you have access to those, you probably don’t feel the need for supporting a public pool,” said Carswell. “I think that a lot of people in Columbia County haven’t come to the understanding that we have a very diverse population. Not everyone in Columbia County are the haves. Some are the have-nots, and those kids deserve opportunities just as well as the affluent.”
Griffin and Carswell have pressed on. They are armed with facts and statistics, several which are displayed on their website.
“I’ve hardly gotten any negative feedback,” said Griffin. “But the comment that I have gotten is that it’s too expensive, and it would cause taxes to go up. That’s true; it could make our taxes go up. But there are some public pools and aquatic center that, if they are planned well and they are programmed well, they actually make money.”
Griffin notes a 2009 study by Georgia Southern University’s Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development that found that Splash in the Boro waterpark in Statesboro had an impact of $8.6 million in the local economy.
“People who go there spend about $11 per visitor per day at the facility, and they also spend money in town when they’re there, about $50,” she said.
“About half the money is spent in the facility and half the money is spent outside,” said Carswell. “That’s people from outside the county bringing money in. So not every aquatic center is losing money.”
[adrotate banner=”19″]
“I think it’s just taken this long for a reassessment of whether or not it is a public need at this time,” said John Luton, community services director. “We are in the process right now of updating the five-to-10-year parks and recreation comprehensive master plan for Columbia County, and we are currently in the public engagement, public feedback stage of that.”
Part of that public engagement was a public meeting on June 17.
“Currently we are close to the statistically valid survey portion of this plan,” said Luton. “Those should be sent out in the coming weeks, and at the end of that, we’ll compile all the data and feedback that we’ve had, and that will help formulate our recommendations moving forward. And again, we’re calling that process Recreate Columbia County. We really want to hear from the public on this, and other issues.”
That kind of public engagement is what Swim Columbia County is striving after. If enough awareness is raised, the issue might be added to the ballots.
“People are going to have to vote for it,” said Carswell. “And that’s our job.”
Swim Columbia County’s website is at www.swimcolumbiacounty.net, and its Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/Swim-Columbia-County-104390458144376.
For more information on Recreate Columbia County, go to www.recreatecolumbiacounty.com.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com..
[adrotate banner=”56″]
