The Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission broke ground on the first public pool in Hollywood, SC on Aug. 29, 2018. The site will be named the West County Aquatic Center and the pool called The Genesis Pool. The initiative to build the pool started with CCPRC’s non-profit arm, The Parklands Foundation of Charleston County. The foundation formed the Genesis Project after the tragic drowning of 13-year-old Hollywood resident Genesis Holmes in May 2014. The goal of the project is to eliminate drowning incidents by providing swimming instruction in Charleston’s rural communities, where access to public pools is limited. CCPRC funded the pool’s construction. The Parklands Foundation will support programming.

Opening

The pool has an expected completion date of spring of 2019.

Location

Although the formal address of the pool has not been established, the pool will be built on a parcel of land located adjacent to the new Hollywood Town Hall behind 5150 Highway 165 in Hollywood, SC. The Town Hall is currently under construction.

Who will it serve?

The pool is intended to be used by members of the Hollywood/Baptist Hill area and the surrounding communities, serving as many as 10,000 people each season. The pool is open to daily visitors as well as participants in swimming lessons, summer camps, etc.

Pool Features

• Outdoor pool
• Competitive swim lanes
• 25 yards in length
• 3 to 4 feet deep
• Zero-depth entry area
• Over 6,000 square feet in size
• Capacity of 100+ people

Programming

The Parklands Foundation’s Genesis Project will raise funds to develop programming for the pool. This will include swimming lessons, education and summer camps.

Similar Ventures by CCPRC

CCPRC has operated a portable pool program since 2013 to provide swimming instruction to students at Jane Edwards Elementary as well as to summer campers at Angel Oak Elementary, Lincoln High School and Schroder Community Center. CCPRC also operates three waterparks throughout the county with leisure pools.

Drowning stats (source: CDC)

• According to a report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 people die every day from unintentional drowning. Of these, two are children aged 14 or younger.
• Fatal drowning is the fifth-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death in for children ages 1 to 14 years and the fifth leading cause of people of all ages in the US.

Design-Build Team

• Jerry Regenbogen Consulting - Site Planning and Landscape Architecture
• Glick-Boehm & Associates – Architecture
• JLA - Engineering
• Aqua Blue Pools - Swimming Pool Design
• Brunson Construction - General Contracting

 More Information

Information about the pool’s progress will be posted here. Information about the foundation, the Genesis Project and the fundraising campaign can be found on The Parklands Foundation website or by calling 843-640-5451.

Media Contact

Sarah Reynolds, Public Information Coordinator

843-762-8089

Email

Pool Rendering

Available by request. Created by Jerry Regenbogen Consulting.