PULASKI COUNTY, Va. – In May of 2023, just as the season was kicking off and folks were excited to enjoy the summer heat by the pool, the Evelyn Alexander Pool House at Randolph Park burned down.
After over a year since the fire, there are now crews out working to restore the pool.
“They actually started bringing their crews in, chaining it off and it has been about a month and a half now and they are moving,” said Shay Dunnigan, director of Pulaski County Parks and Recreation. “Randolph Park is going to look a lot different here in about five months.”
Dunnigan said they are finally starting to see the finish line.
“The last two years it’s been a long journey to get to where we are at,” Dunnigan said.
He showed me around the construction site to see the progress and told me some of what is going on.
“This will also be a shelter that our Pulaski County teams are going in-house,” said Dunnigan. “So, we will have a shelter here and it’ll actually extend about 60 ft onto the old existing pool deck”
They are also replastering the pool while rebuilding the pool house. They want to have everything as new as possible.
“They did a really great job at making sure all the debris, things of the fire, cleaning out the pipes, motors are good,” said Dunnigan. “It is getting a whole new makeover.”
He said while it has been hard on the community, it has also been a blessing.
“I’m a true believer that everything happens for a reason even though it was very hard at the time,” said Dunnigan. “We’re getting a chance to revamp a building that met the needs of the Pulaski County Community for 22-23 years.”
Dunnigan said they plan to be open and have kids in the pool splashing and having fun in 2025.