Just in time for the scorching heat predicted for this weekend, both pools at the Kedron Fieldhouse and Aquatic Center in Peachtree City have been reopened following the June 21 fire at the Fieldhouse.
The fieldhouse lobby and pool-side restrooms are open and the phone line is working, officials said. The gym and meeting rooms will remain closed for the time being as repairs are ongoing, officials said.
The fieldhouse was damaged by two small fires in the early morning of June 21 which set off the fire sprinkler system. Because of a failure in the fire alarm system, the signal indicating the water flow in the sprinkler system was not transmitted to the city’s alarm monitoring contractor, officials said.
Repairs to the fieldhouse are expected to continue over the coming weeks. Crews have been working around the clock on the facility in an effort to get it back open as quickly as possible.
The two small fires were intentionally set and police arrested a Palmetto man who had access to the building because he worked for the company that provides janitorial services to the city.
Robert Earl Striggles, 19, of Hill Street was charged with one felony count each of arson, burglary and interference with government property.
Fire Chief Ed Eiswerth told the city council last week that the fire sprinkler system saved the building.
Because the fire alarm did not signal the city’s monitoring company, the fire department was never notified of the blaze. A water flow alarm should have gone through to the monitoring company but a faulty switch prevented that from happening, officials said last week.
The flooded fieldhouse was discovered by an aquatic staff member who arrived in the morning for a swim meet, police said. That employee saw that the sprinkler and emergency lighting systems had been activated, and there were some signs of smoke in and around the building, police said.
Police said the fires appeared to have been started with a combustible liquid, and an unidentified liquid also had been poured on several desks in the office area.
