HOT SPRINGS, Va. – A major attraction at a Bath County resort is back on track to once again welcome visitors to come and relax.
The Omni Homestead Resort announced Thursday that it will undertake the restoration of the Jefferson Pools starting this summer.
The pools have been closed since October 2017 when Bath County officials deemed the buildings no longer safe for use.
On Thursday, the Bath County Building, Planning and Zoning committee approved the building permits for the work and the resort is planning to begin construction will begin later this summer with the project being finished in 12-18 months.
As part of the project, the resort will go back to calling the pools by their original name, the Warm Springs Pools. In the National Register of Historic Places, the site is registered as the Warms Springs Bath Houses.
“We are very excited to get this project back on track and to once again have them known as the Warm Springs Pools,” said Mark Spadoni, managing director of The Omni Homestead Resort. “Jay, Ed and the associates at 3North have done an incredible job of planning this project in a way that not only allows us to reopen the Pools but that maintains the character of these historic landmarks. We have great respect for what the Pools represent to this community and feel it is only right that we return to their original name.”
While work to reopen the pools was slated to begin in 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 forced a delay in the start of the project, which is estimated to cost $3 million, according to the Homestead.
The goal of the restoration is to preserve as much historic building fabric as possible.
“This is a board by board project,” added Spadoni. “The scope of work includes repairing the foundation of both bath houses and the reception house as well as preserving and/or replacing in-kind the historic wood structure, windows, doors, siding and roofing.” Improvements to the parking area and upgrades to the restrooms are also part of the project.
The general contractor for the project will be announced in the coming weeks.
Below is a look back into the 10 News archive and our story from Oct. 13, 2017, discussing the closure of the pools: