Georgetown Recreation Club closing permanently because of utility pole relocation for express lanes

Members of the Georgetown Recreation Club, like many people in the metro Atlanta region, gathered over the Labor Day weekend to celebrate the end of the summer season.

However, there will be no more “next year” for Georgetown, which is closing permanently in early September – because of a utility pole relocation for an yet-to-be funded project and a surprise sale of a key piece of land on the property.

The pool, located at the end of Old Spring House Lane abutting I-285, has about 130 households on its membership roster. During the years-long expansion of the interstate, those numbers went down, hampered by the noise and dust generated by construction. Last year, a soundproof barrier was erected, which helped stabilize membership.

However, in May, GRC was informed via email on May 13 by the Cowart family, which owns the property, that land along the edge of the site was sold to Georgia Power for an easement in anticipation of the I-285 Top End Express Lane Project.

“The proposed I-285 Top End Express Lanes project would add two new, barrier-separated express lanes in both directions of a portion of I-285 and SR 400,” it said. “Some sections would be at-grade and others will be elevated. The proposed project spans three counties, Cobb, Fulton, and DeKalb, and crosses several cities including Smyrna, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville, and Tucker.”

The project, now in the concept stage, may be funded with a public-private partnership, according to its website.

The website said it “anticipated that a private-sector partner will be selected for the final design, construction, financing, operations, and to maintain the express lanes in exchange for future toll revenue.”

A part of work in advance of the construction in the Georgetown area involves the relocation of a utility pole at the far right corner of the lot from its current location to another about 15 feet away. The movement of the pole to the designated area would land it too close to the pool’s pump room, according to Georgia Power and other officials.

“I believe what they will require is the removal of the structure next to the pool,” the email from Ben Cowart said. “It should not affect the tennis courts, but the pool equipment will have to be relocated. They [Georgia Power] will be responsible for the demolition, but you will be responsible for the rebuild.”

In the May email, Cowart said Georgia Power contacted the family “a few years ago about moving their power lines.”

” We didn’t do anything about it at the time because with all that was going on with 285, we were not sure what would happen,” the email continued. “Anyway, they came back and said if we do not sell them an easement, they will condemn it. Since we did not have the resources to fight them, we agreed to sell.”

Documents regarding the easement sale obtained by Rough Draft Atlanta indicate that the transfer was signed by David Cowart, Cynthia C. Burch, and Benjamin Cowart on April 1. It was filed on April 23 by the Clerk of Superior Court of DeKalb County.

Longtime pool and board member Justin Dike said the board jumped into action to see if anything could be done to save GRC. It met with the Cowart family, Georgia Power and the GDOT to ask for a compromise solution, a delay in the demolition schedule, or a variance on the distance between the pole and the pump room.

“We asked Georgia Power and they said that the pole had been ordered and there was no way the project could be stopped,” Dike said. “It’s scheduled to be installed in October.”

All other attempts at a solution that would allow the club to remain viable proved futile. With a minimum estimated cost to rebuild the pump room building at $150,000 to $200,000, it is too large of a burden for the club or the membership to shoulder, Dike said.

“At the end of the day, we spent a lot of time and effort to work on estimates, but we are on a short timeline,” said Steve Ellet, a former board member. “If we had gotten involved earlier, we could have possibly avoided [the club closing].”

Ellet said “the rich people in the sky” who will be using the newly constructed express lanes will cause lots of casualties to neighborhoods along its path.

“We just happen to be the first ones,” he said. “Georgia Power and the GDOT have the momentum, and we are just a little swim club.”

The land upon which the club sits, which includes the pool, a clubhouse, and four tennis courts, was part of a 50-year lease between the club and the Cowart family, which ran from 1969 to 2019. In exchange, the pool membership paid for upkeep, property taxes and insurance on the property.

Years before the lease was up, the pool board tried to extend the lease with the Cowarts, “but it just didn’t go anywhere,” Dike said. “It was converted to a month-to-month arrangement.”

Related stories:
• Sandy Springs residents quiz GDOT about express lanes
• Construction-weary Dunwoody residents learn about GDOT express lane project

An air of resignation pervaded Georgetown’s final party of its existence on Aug. 30, with lots of reminiscing and talk about plans to move their membership to pools outside the neighborhood. Several people, according to attendees, are contemplating leaving the neighborhood all together because of fears about what will happen to the soon-to-be-vacant property.

“I feel like the captain of the Titanic,” GRC President Bill Hutchinson, who has been a member of the pool for 15 years, told Rough Draft. “I think about all the swim team kids we had here that are now swimming at the collegiate level, of the friendships, the families.”

And I also worry that it’s going to turn into an empty, unmonitored lot where homeless people will camp out. In my opinion, it’s a natural progression of an empty space,” he said.

Several people say that they considered having a tennis-only facility after the pool closes, but it doesn’t seem financially viable without the other amenities. Redevelopment of the site also seems unlikely as it it located in a flood plain, according to the Dunwoody Trailway Master Plan and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) map.

Rough Draft has reached out to several members of the Cowart family for comment.

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