Athens reopens renovated Bishop Park Pool with zero-depth entry and extended hours

City of Athens staff formally reopened the reconstructed Bishop Park Pool at a public ceremony, highlighting a new zero-depth entry, accessibility upgrades and expanded public hours.

The improvements include a zero-depth, beach-style entry to the shallow end, an ADA pool chair for lift access between the shallow and deep areas, benches and shaded deck space, and competition upgrades that include 10 lanes and a maximum depth of 12.5 feet. “The feature that I'm most excited for is the, the accessibility to this beautiful, which is the 0 depth entry to the shallow end. So anybody can just walk right in,” an unidentified City of Athens staff member said.

The pool also has two diving boards, several basketball hoops, a large umbrella over the zero-depth entry area and a channel between the shallow and competition areas with benches and stairs. City staff said the facility will host swim lessons and swim teams and that public hours will be expanded to weekdays; before the renovation the pool was open to the public only on weekends.

Renovation work took place over “a couple years,” according to the staff member, and the reopening returns a site used for recreation and competitive swimming to public use. “Now it's weekdays as well. Woo. Athens, it's yours,” the staff member said at the event.

No formal policy actions or votes were reported during the remarks. The reopening announcements focused on the facility features, program uses and accessibility improvements rather than new funding or regulatory changes.

Local swimmers, swim teams and people with mobility impairments are the most directly affected groups named by staff; funding sources, operating budgets and the exact reopening date were not specified in the remarks.

City officials did not reference statutes, ordinances or contract actions during the reopening remarks, and no motions or formal directives were made public during the event.