Florence City Council presses pause on aquatic center demolition

BOONE COUNTY, Ky. (WXIX) - Florence City Council is delaying the demolition of the Florence Aquatic Center.

Council voted on Tuesday to press pause on the demolition pending the results of a survey that will go out to residents in September.

“I was a little nervous that they had their plans and they were ready to run with their plans,” Florence resident Jenna Kemper said.

The city previously voted to demolish the pool. Several options for the vacated space were up for consideration.

The survey will ask whether recipients want to keep or demolish the aquatic center. It’s something City Council member J. Kelly Huff says they will take seriously.

“I mean, they’re the ones who put us here,” Huff said. “That’s who we work for.”

Kemper calls the new process “very fair.”

“I feel like they’ve done what we’ve asked them to do, which is to listen to their constituents,” she said.

Huff says the council hasn’t decided on a specific number of replies required for them to make a decision to keep the aquatic center.

“If the majority of the citizens of Florence, if that’s what they want, then I think that’s the direction we should go,” he said.

But Huff isn’t giving up on the original plan.

“I’m still quite confident that the project we were discussing and planning to implement is the direction we will ultimately end up going,” he said.

That’s why Kemper and the group of people who want to keep the pool say they will be focusing their efforts on canvassing the area to convince folks to vote in favor of the pool.

“There is still a lot of work to do to get the voices of the community,” she said.

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