It was a day to celebrate former Mayor Carl Redus Jr. as well as the benefits of spending time in the pool.
On Friday, about 200 people gathered at what is now known as the Carl A. Redus Jr. Aquatics Center to honor the man whose vision was finally turned into reality across the terms of the next two mayors.
"I am truly humbled and thankful for this meaningful and prestigious honor," Redus told the gathering. "This facility is a tremendous asset to our community."
The Pine Bluff City Council approved the name change of the center, which had been called the Pine Bluff Aquatics Center, in December 2020, with the lettering change taking place in the past few weeks.
Redus thanked the council and especially council member Ivan Whitfield and former council member Donald Hatchett for their support for making the name change.
"The vision of the aquatic center is the hard work and effort of many individuals who worked countless hours to see this project through to completion," Redus said. "I cannot say thank you enough to the citizens of Pine Bluff who placed their confidence in the 2020 Vision Initiative. Your commitment to this project improved the quality of life for all citizens."
Key to turning the aquatics center idea into a reality was the passage of a sales tax, Redus said.
"Without your vote for the 'Penny for Progress' sales tax initiative, this facility would not have been possible," he said.
Redus said the idea for an aquatic center came about because the city had been without a public swimming pool for more than 30 years.
"I recall in my youth how Pine Bluff's public swimming pools were a primary source of recreation," said Redus, who was elected in 2004 and served two four-year terms. "Therefore, it was important that the youths and adults in Pine Bluff have a state of the art recreational facility, and the center is just that."
Ted Davis, former assistant to Redus, also spoke, thanking the former mayor for his leadership.
"I am so proud of you," Davis said, also thanking Mayor Shirley Washington for seeing the project through to completion, which occurred in June 2019.
Washington, who was elected to office in 2016, said some people approached her to ask her why she didn't put her own name on the aquatic center, since she was the mayor when it opened.
"I happened to be here at the end," she said. "I wasn't the one with the vision."
The project also sustained momentum through the mayoral term of Debe Hollingsworth, who served from 2013 through 2016, officials said.
Redus had to share the stage, so to speak, with the athletic and health benefits of hitting the pool.
Washington praised Redus and then spurred the audience to take advantage of one of the many classes that take place at the center.
"I encourage y'all to join in," Washington said, adding that she routinely works out at the pool and has challenged herself to learn to swim.
Christian Murray, 14, told attendees that he didn't know how to swim until he signed up for lessons at the pool. Now he is a skilled swimmer who shows athletic promise.
Joyce Brown, one of the first people to join the pool, took the podium as well to say that she swims every day of the week and that the physical therapy the workout provides keeps her in good shape.
"I just want people to experience the healing waters of the aquatic center," she said.
Former Mayor Carl Redus Jr. visits with Juanita Currie on Friday as attendees stream into the city’s aquatics center to honor Redus, whose name now adorns the center. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Byron Tate)