Lansford officials plan to open its Ashton Hill Park pool complex to the public on Saturday, giving people one last look at the swimming pool and its issues.

Borough council hopes to show the public the condition of the pool, which closed in 2015 after losing more than a million gallons of water that summer season.

Several efforts to raise money and obtain grants to repair or replace the pool continued for years, before borough council finally gave up on the idea of a new pool in August 2023 due to the costs involved.

A new pool carried a $3 million price tag, and even with grant funds from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the borough would have to come up with $1.5 million.

Paying for repairs

Fundraising only came up with a fraction of the money needed — a little over $130,000 including a large donation to rehabilitate the kiddie pool.

Repairs alone had been estimated at around $1 million conservatively, and the entire complex, including changing rooms and restrooms, would have needed to be brought up to compliance with ADA standards, adding to the cost.

The borough’s ability to pay for and maintain a pool for the long-term came into question, especially with limitations on how much admission could be charged based on the community it serves.

The state also required a feasibility study be done to determine if the borough could afford a pool and maintain it in the years that followed in order to qualify for any funding.

Council couldn’t justify spending $50,000 or more on a feasibility study, which could prove the community couldn’t sustain a pool, when other options, such as a splash pad, were available.

Original pool

The original pool opened in the mid-1940s following the drowning of a young boy in an old cistern in Summit Hill — one of many in old stripping pits and other dangerous bodies of water over the years, Bruce Markovich, council president, said.

The new, safe swimming pool came from funds donated by local companies along with a community effort and delighted generations of children and their families.

In the 1970s, the 30-year-old pool began shifting, producing cracks in the structure, Markovich said

In the mid-1980s, a new, smaller pool was constructed with state and federal funds within the original pool’s footprint and lasted another 30 years before it began leaking and closed in 2015.

Initial efforts to find the leak failed.

During the closure, damage to the pool’s filtration pipes occurred and the borough sought funding toward a new pool and began a feasibility study, which the state did not accept, Markovich said.

In 2020, the nonprofit Friends of Lansford Recreation, which had been raising money toward repairs or a new pool, hired a local plumbing contractor to locate the leak, he said.

The following year, the four main pipes to the pump house were found, and a camera run through them, revealing one six-inch PVC pipe broken near the southwest corner of the pool, Markovich said.

The contractor also placed a camera in the skimmer system piping, which surrounds the pool, and more cracked and broken pipes were found, he said.

Another plan to install new piping around the pool, instead of under the structure, was devised and approved by the borough engineer, and excavation began in 2022.

The excavation showed the smaller pool inside the original 1940s pool structure was not concrete block, but cinder block with a layer of concrete over top, Markovich said.

Leaks from the skimmer system caused the weaker cinder blocks to erode and crumble in areas around the pool skimmers, he said.

Future

In August 2023, DCNR addressed borough council and the public regarding the pool’s future.

A regional adviser for the department explained that a new feasibility study was needed moving forward. The study would determine the options for upgrades or rehabilitation or a new, possibly smaller pool.

A study would also determine how much it would cost for repairs or replacement, ongoing maintenance and management and reasonable admission fees that the borough could charge.

Based on past funding through the National Park Service, the fees must be reasonable and the area must also remain accessible to the public as a park.

And repairs or replacement was going to be costly. Repairs, which were estimated at about $1 million, could be as high as $2 million or $3 million, DCNR said, and a new pool started at $ 3 million.

Markovich said further inspections found the current pool unsafe and unrepairable.

Council chose not to pursue a study, and applied for a gaming grant for a splash pad for summer recreation at the complex, and continue to use the shallow, kiddie pool in conjunction with the splash pad.

Last summer, the borough found out from the state that a grant probably wouldn’t be funded without a site and development plan for the splash pad.

The borough applied for $25,000 in state gaming funds for a site and development plan, and continue to wait on word on that grant.

Council has since discussed filling in the pool due to safety concerns, and kids getting inside the fenced-in pool area. The pool concession stand has been broken into once this year and there has been other attempts.

Councilman Joe Butrie suggested making a play area for the kids on the pool site, once the structure is filled in.

Other options for the area include a walking track, an area for concerts or music, or other festivals or events, such as car shows.

Markovich has suggested waiting on the grant for the splash pad plan before moving forward with other options.

The pool complex will be open Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the public to view the condition. Councilwoman Gwyneth Collevechio said Wednesday that it would be held rain or shine.