TAYLOR COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A historic landmark in Perry has been rescued from being buried by the county.
For more than a century, the Hampton Springs Pool has stood in Taylor County.
It was once part of a hotel that burned down in 1958. The Taylor County Historical Society says the notorious gangster, Al Capone, and other stars spent time there.
"Radio celebrities and opera singers who came in from New York, New Jersey and rode the train line in," said J.T. Davis of the Taylor County Historical Society. "We used to sell bottles of water from the springs and sold it across the United States."
Local legend was the waters had healing powers. The place was marketed as a national health resort.
The site was restored in 2006 as a million dollar project, but last week, crews started filling the pool with broken cement and rocks.
"Our liability insurance providers have recommended filling it in," said Taylor County Administrator Ted Lakey. "Staff was just following the liability recommendations and filled in."
Social media was flooded with frustration. People criticized the county for destroying a local treasure.
After such an uproar from the community, Taylor County commissioners unanimously voted Monday to reverse the decision to fill the pool.
"There was such an outcry from the citizens to bring it back the way it was years ago, and the board saw that," Lakey said.
"It means a lot still to a lot of generations," Davis said. "There are people that still went out there and would go swimming in the pool. They would clean it up each year. People would volunteer, and they would literally go in there and pressure wash, clean it out, pull out the trash."
The county commission will discuss plans for the site at a workshop Thursday at 6 p.m. at Perry City Hall. Citizens are encouraged to come to the meeting and share their ideas.
