Senior Citizens pool in need of repairs to reopen

NATCHEZ, Miss. – The city’s century-old indoor swimming pool is in need of major repairs that must be done to make it safe to reopen, said Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson.

Located inside the Natchez Senior Citizens Center on Washington and Martin Luther King streets, the basement pool has equipment inside that’s emitting toxic carbon monoxide, Gibson said. The equipment needs to be relocated outside. Other problems to fix include water circulation/filtration-related hazards and leaks that could threaten the stability of the 112-year-old building it occupies.

“We’re going to do all we can to keep this historic pool functioning and to reopen it as soon as we are possibly able to,” the mayor said.

While he noted funds are available for repairs, engineering assessments must be done before contractors can be sought to price the costs of the needed remedies.

“We have identified ample funds, we believe, to make the repairs. We are sitting on those funds now,” Gibson said.

The indoor pool in recent years has been a popular place for the elderly and others to swim with it being refurbished after decades of being closed. It’s located in the old Carpenter School built in 1913.

“We may have the oldest continually operating swimming pool in the state of Mississippi. Who knows?” Gibson said.