MACON, Ga. — The sounds of summer haven't echoed through Bloomfield's Recreation Center for two summer seasons. Today, there's silence. The pool sits in disrepair. It's covered with tarps and leaves. Fences are falling apart. Weeds are growing out of the roof.
Children in Macon's Bloomfield neighborhood will go another summer without a pool nearby. The county says the pool off Rocky Creek Road still needs repair.
But how long has the county known about the problem, and what repairs are needed?
Viewers asked 13WMAZ why the pool is still not fixed and accused the county of putting other projects ahead of their pool.
We brought those questions to county officials to get you the answers. We also went to the pool to see what work has been done.
"Why are we sitting around accepting this failure. This is a failure. A failure of the people we have in place in leadership," said County Commissioner Al Tillman.
Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Al Tillman who represents Bloomfield. He's demanding answers on why the county's recreation department didn't respond sooner.
"We have a $200 million budget and we can't spend money to get our pools fixed for our young and disadvantaged communities, that is unacceptable," Tillman said.
Mayor Lester Miller says it's not a money problem.
"It's a totality of the circumstances," Miller said.
The county says problems began in March 2022. People vandalized the center, stealing the copper wiring.
The power has been out at the pool's center ever since.
Then, months later, before the 2022 summer season, the county began dealing with leaks at the pool.
The county decided to keep the pool shut down last year while they invested in renovations at the ballfields next door.
But then this January, Floore says employees found the pool's pump failed. Miller says the county is looking to fix the problems, but it will take some time.
"It's not as easy as it used to be. We can't just run out and replace it. Really there's a severe work shortage," Miller said. "We're hoping things will get better. It's not an excuse. We're still going to do what we're supposed to do."
County spokesperson Chris Floore says the repairs likely won't be completed until after pool season-- which ends in August.
A county newsletter says there's "no set estimate on when parts will arrive."
However, we confirmed the county hasn't even ordered the parts for the pump--five months after employees found the problem.
Power still has not been restored to the center over a year after it went out.
It will be three to six weeks until parts to repair the electricity arrive.
The county says the Bloomfield pool will stay closed until further notice.
Beginning next Monday at 10 a.m., the county will bus children 17 and under from the Bloomfield-Gilead building to an operating county pool. However, it's limited to 40 children from Bloomfield each day. They will be able to swim from 10:30 to 12:30 p.m. before heading back to Bloomfield.