News

Add summertime swimming at a public pool to the long list of victims of recreational opportunities.

The city of Hendersonville announced Friday that Patton Pool will not be opening for the 2025 season because of extensive damage caused by Hurricane Helene. A  timeline for reopening has not yet been set.

Besides the city pool, Hurricane Helene damaged the Oklawaha Trail, caused a six-month delay in the opening of the Ecusta Trail, closed many facilities at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site and destroyed a youth soccer complex in Asheville that was used by many players from Henderson County.

 

The City Council and staff are working with FEMA to explore funding opportunities for rebuilding the pool, the city said in a news release. These efforts include evaluating options to enhance the facility’s resiliency, ensuring it is better equipped to withstand future weather events. The city posted a request for qualifications (RFQ) for architectural and engineering consultants to assess the site and develop a comprehensive redesign of the pool and surrounding facilities in the park. The evaluation and redesign process, along with the subsequent construction could take multiple years to complete.

 

The John B. Lewis Soccer Complex at Azalea Park in Asheville, which had four artificial turf fields, is not expected to open anytime soon. The complex “was pretty much ground zero” for Helene-related destruction of recreational assets, Michael Rottjakob, executive director of the Asheville Buncombe Youth Soccer Association, told Mountain Xpress. The soccer complex was home to youth and adult recreation leagues, travel teams, summer camps, travel tournaments and other sports events.