PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — The South County Regional Park Pool in Punta Gorda remains closed months after its expected reopening date, leaving residents with limited options to beat the summer heat.
Normally this time of year, the pool would be filled with neighbors trying to cool off, but construction delays have kept the facility empty since January.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on the South County Regional Park Pool:
The pool has been closed since January for a $442,650 resurfacing project that was originally scheduled to be completed in March. County officials say the contractor, AuMiller Pools, now needs to fix work that wasn't done correctly, including replacing tiling.
According to the county, an outside engineering firm was hired to audit the work, and a preliminary report found it did not meet Tile Council of North America or American National Standards Institute guidelines.
"The work that we saw was consistently inconsistent," Commissioner Bill Truex said Tuesday.
"I'm very disappointed," said Commissioner Chris Constance.
As repair work continues, residents like Renee Griffith say the pool closure means less opportunity for low-cost, close-to-home summer recreation for her children.
"It's already hot so the fact that we can't go to the pool here, I feel like we don't want to be in the heat, we want be somewhere we can cool off," Griffith said.
County officials say work should be completed by mid-July, but an official reopening date hasn't been set.
Additionally, the community pool at the Port Charlotte Beach Park is closed as well. In the meantime, other county pools in Port Charlotte and Englewood remain open, but they are less convenient for many south county residents.
"I live here, so I'm not going to go that far out to go to the pool," Griffith said.
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