Gilley Pool Reopens To Outside Counties

McMinnville’s Gilley Pool has reopened to residents of all counties and increased visitor capacity to 300.

Wellness Coordinator Mari-Lynn Wilson said pool staff welcomed over 200 visitors Thursday morning alone.

“I am super happy,” Wilson said. “We get a lot of patrons from other counties, and I think it’s super great that we’re now allowing them to come and enjoy the Gilley Pool, and I’m sure they’re all excited too. It’s nice to see everyone.”

Wilson said visitors from Coffee, Putnam, Dekalb and others have visited the pool since opening Wednesday.

On average about 50 to 75 Warren County residents would take advantage of the summer facility. Wilson said low numbers were a key factor in the reopening decision.

“I think the board was just looking at numbers and all of that and just decided to open it up,” Wilson said. “Of course initially the deal was is that we were trying to keep cases low, and so Warren County’s been blessed that we haven’t had a lot of cases.”

The previous visitor capacity was 200. Wilson said even with increasing allotted capacity, there is plenty of room in the 800 capacity pool. She said the facility’s revenues have declined.

“On a typical day during a normal summer, we’d easily have 600 in the pool, or 400 people in the pool,” Wilson said. “Lowering our capacity down to 200 is definitely doing to lower our revenues.”

Pool staff are still checking temperatures and requiring each visitor to sign their names and contact information.