An incomplete total park renovation project in Decatur that “was a causality of the pandemic,” according to DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Director Chuck Ellis, is now seeing movement after citizens voiced concerns.
N.H. Scott Park, located at 2230 Tilson Road in Decatur, will once again be home to a public swimming pool that could be open in time for the 2024 swim season, according to parks and recreation officials.
Priscilla Davenport, who said she represented a collective group of park users in south DeKalb, said many of those who utilize N.H. Scott Park are “truly disappointed in the process of getting things done” thus far.
In an email listing her concerns, Davenport said “the community was told the pool would be built by 2020, and the date changed to 2021.” The pool is still not complete and operational as of 2023.
Other concerns listed in Davenport’s email, sent in August, included the lack of new exercise equipment despite a grant awarded in 2022 and malfunctioning security camera equipment.
Although the renovations for the park were set into motion in 2018 after millions of dollars in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds were awarded to the project, Davenport said little progress had been made in the subsequent years.
But, according to Ellis, N.H. Scott Park was not the only project that faced a stalled timeline due to various circumstances.
“This project is truly a pandemic casualty as far as timing goes,” said Ellis. “We have said this over and over. The original vendor could not complete the project. That vendor, like many others, was losing employees at the time. There was a required process to replace that vendor.”
Ellis also said skyrocketing costs for supplies has caused numerous issues.
“The prices have increased substantially on this project from the initial cost estimates,” said Ellis. “Costs have increased 30 to 50 percent, if not more, (for) almost every project, not just…
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