The demolition of Legion Pool got underway on Thursday. The University System of Georgia approved the plan in January. Opened in 1936, the facility is being replaced with hillside seating, four sand volleyball pits, and 20 additional parking spaces. The University of Georgia said the pool was losing an estimated 24,000 gallons of water a day through leaks and evaporation, costing nearly $90,000 a year. Full reconstruction of the facility was estimated at $11.4 million.
Community advocates, like Friends of Legion Pool and the historic preservation organization Historic Athens, objected to the move, calling the pool an important piece of Athens history. Legion Pool was placed on the 2026 Georgia Trust’s statewide Places in Peril List and Historic Athens’ 2021 Places in Peril list.
