Residents of Tamaqua voted in favor of loaning up to $2.5 million for rehabilitation of the Bungalow Pool. The measure won by 596 to 360.

“We would certainly need to match any funder, and we’re talking huge amounts of money,” said Mary Linkevich, Tamaqua councilwoman, during an interview last month.

“Why have these conversations if the community wouldn’t support it? That’s why we’re putting it on the ballot.”

Linkevich said the Tamaqua borough wrote a grant to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to do a pool feasibility study. The study was a prerequisite to apply for a larger grant.

“The feasibility study came back showing, and I’ve see this personally, that the cement is no longer holding up on the sides of the pool,” Linkevich said. “It has to be patched year after year. Eventually, that will no longer sustain the pool. Instead of renovation, the feasibility study recommends investing money into creating a new pool, and incorporating modern designs.”

A new pool would cost $3.5 million, which would include all of the bells and whistles.