Ceremony symbolically opens renovated pool complex

Published 7:05 pm Wednesday, March 24, 2021

MOULTRIE Ga. — The Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation Authority opened the new Southwest Aquatics Facility at Memorial Park Wednesday morning, celebrating the end of a long renovation project. 

While most of the construction has been completed, there are a few more tasks to finish before the facility will be opened for public use, Rec Authority officials said.

“We are in the short rows of what we have to do, we have to finalize some fencing around the property but we are essentially done with this very large project,” said Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation Authority Director Greg Icard said in an interview before the event. 

The construction included a new splash pad, a new competition pool and a renovated Moss Farms Diving dive well facility. 

When the facility first opened up in 1947 it included a competition pool that was later covered by another pool. Both pools had to be dug up to be replaced by the new one, Icard said. 

The splash pad is covering what used to be a children’s pool. The renovations for the diving and competition facilities include showers, hot tubs, the dive well tower, judges stand, spectator benches, plumbing and filtration systems and an air-based water softening system. 

The MCCPRA has also built a new indoor training facility and remodeled the concessions building.

“There are things that you don’t even think about when undertaking a project like this,” Icard said during his Completion Ceremony speech. “Multiple tons of concrete and about two miles of PVC pipes that we are never going to see right under our feet just to get this place running.”

The renovations totaled about $3.8 million, according to Icard. 

“We had an economic impact analysis show that we generate around $7.8 to $11 million per year in swimming, diving, baseball and softball tournaments,” stated Icard.

The facility will be put to its first official use this weekend. The Moose Moss Invitational will feature 170 divers from 14 teams across the country. Diving begins at 9 a.m. Friday.

The splash pad will be open April 1 and the MCCPRA will be hosting a free kickoff event which will include food, raffles and games on April 3. 

The Zones Diving Competition will be held at the facility in June and will feature more than 250 divers. If you would like to reserve the splash pad or any other aquatic facilities, contact the MCCPRA at 229-668-0028.