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Residents urge city to prioritize new aquatics center as Kedron facility nears end of life
Summary
Two public commenters — a swim-team booster club president and an Olympic swimmer — told council a new aquatics facility should be a top parks-and-recreation priority, citing capacity, program demand and potential for self-sustaining operations.
Two Peachtree City residents urged the City Council to prioritize an aquatics center in the city’s parks and recreation planning during public comment on Feb. 25.
Jackie DiPietri, identified herself as president of the McIntosh Swim Team Booster Club and a Peachtree City resident, and said the existing Kedron Aquatics facility is “on its last leg,” is under-maintained and regularly closed for emergency maintenance. She told the council the community survey showed strong demand for an aquatic facility and said current facilities are too small to meet participation: “We have a summer league that has 1,200 swimmers in it but our facilities can only accommodate about 60 swimmers with a wait list throughout the year,” DiPietri said.
Mary Plant, who said she and her husband moved to Peachtree City 30 years ago and described herself as a former Olympian, echoed that an aquatics facility would serve all ages and abilities and could sustain itself financially if designed and programmed correctly. Plant listed senior water-aerobics, youth competitive programs, lifeguard training, water polo and social programming as potential uses. She also told council she believes a properly planned facility “will not be a tax burden on the citizens of Peachtree City and Fayette County.”
The comments were made during the public-comment portion of the council meeting; no formal council action was taken at the session. Council members are scheduled to review and prioritize projects in the city’s Recreation Master Plan during an upcoming special called retreat, staff said later in the meeting.
Both speakers framed the aquatics center as a longstanding community priority amid a slate of recreation projects that the city has listed for future conceptual design and funding strategies.
