RRHA board eyes reopening of Calhoun Center pool
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 6/10/2021, 6 p.m.
A fix may be on the way for the long-closed indoor swimming pool at the Calhoun Center that the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority owns in its Gilpin Court public housing community.
Shut down eight years ago, the 50-year-old pool has been bone-dry ever since, with RRHA claiming a lack of money to make repairs and City Hall and City Council taking a hands-off approach to the problem.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Renewal recently notified the city’s housing authority that its capital investment dollars can be spent to repair the pool.
RRHA’s nine-member board is considering directing its administration to seek bids to get the pool back in usable condition.
The pool has been part of the Calhoun Center since 1972. It was closed in May 2013.
The city still provides public swim options at is two indoor public pools in South Side. One is located at the Bellemeade Recreation Center, 1800 Lynhaven Ave., beside the Oak Grove-Bellmeade Elementary School, and the Swansboro Pool, 3160 Midlothian Turnpike, adjacent to Swansboro Elementary School.
The city also has seven outdoor pools, four of which are open now on Saturdays and Sundays. Beginning June 19, all seven will be open daily.
