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During the Troup County Board of Commissioners work session on Tuesday, Assistant County Manager Jay Anderson gave an update on ongoing projects, including the pool at the Griggs Center and the new pickleball complex.

Construction on the new pool and pavilion for the Don Weatherington Aquatics Center at the William J. Griggs Recreation Center has begun. The county awarded the construction contract to River City Contracting on Dec. 19 and work began shortly after the new year.

“They hit the ground running, and we are anticipating finishing the pool in the summer, hopefully in June and at worst case hopefully July,” Anderson said.

Anderson said most of the construction timeline is weather-dependent as they have already purchased everything they anticipate needing a longer lead time.

“We’ve ordered the slide, the mushroom water features, the electrical, the plumbing, pool equipment. Everything we know of has been ordered. The structural steel is supposed to be here in about three weeks,” Anderson said.

Weather permitting, the plan is to get the shell for the pool installed next week, Anderson said.

“We’ve had one week of freezing weather, or we’ve had one week of eight inches of rain, but we’re close to actually getting the shell in there,” he said.

Additional parking is also planned to allow for overflow parking, as the center is expected to be highly utilized by rec center activities and swimmers, especially during basketball games. Anderson said the extra parking will be located behind the new gymnasium.

The complex currently has about 120 parking spaces installed, and they plan to add about 50 more, he said.

Anderson said the long-awaited pickleball complex is also in the works and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

The 24-court pickleball facility is located across from the Active Life Senior Center on Ragland Street in LaGrange at the Harris Baseball Complex.

The facility is being built on approximately 2.5 acres donated by the Callaway Foundation. Funding for the complex was provided by American Rescue Act Funds awarded through the governor’s office as well as Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds.

Anderson said the facility is still in the design phase, but they are hoping to have eight covered courts and 16 uncovered courts, along with a bathroom pavilion with a small, covered area where people can get out of the sun if needed.

Anderson said they have put out a request for proposals (RFP) to decide which architecture and engineering firm will be utilized to finish the plans and layout moving forward. The proposals are due Feb. 13.

Staff do not anticipate the need for additional parking as the Harris complex already has parking covered.

“It’s right across from the Active Life and catty-corner to the softball field, so it’s a great location there with several of our parks and rec facilities all together,” Anderson said. “We already have that big parking lot right there to help support the pickleball complex as well.”