Cressona officials have taken the first steps toward rebuilding and eventually reopening its public swimming pool.
At a special meeting on Monday, council members voted unanimously to fund a feasibility study and send out a solicitation for a Request for Proposal (RFP) to complete that study. That study, officials say, will be key in determining obviously the feasibility of the project, if it needs to be what the Borough is proposing – a $1.2 million upgrade – and securing future grant funding that will be necessary to start the project.
Cressona expects the feasibility study to cost about $40,000. Earlier this month, at their regular meeting, council members held off on a decision to move forward with paying for the feasibility study now or waiting to see if it would be awarded grant funds to pay for it in September. Waiting to see if it would even get grant funding pushed the timeline back on eventually reopening the pool. It’ll take about six months for the feasibility study to be completed, council president Linda Walinsky says.
So rather than waiting, Cressona will draw about $10,000 from an Earned Income Tax fund. The rest of the cost of the feasibilty study will come from money being given to the Borough by Blue Mountain Recreation Commission. Officials say they met with the Rec Commission since their last meeting and it extended a similar offer that it did last year when Cressona was first faced with the possibility of closing the pool for the 2025 season.
Last year, Cressona turned down an offer of a $75,000 no-interest loan to make what would have amounted to emergency repairs to the pool following a particularly harsh 2024-25 winter season that caused severe structural damage to it. Walinsky said the $75,000 being offered now for the feasibility study is not a loan.
In 2027, Cressona plans to apply for grants from the state’s Dept. of Community and Economic Development and the Dept. of Conservation of Natural Resources in the hopes of accumulating more money to pay for the pool project. Had the Borough waited for grant funding to pay for the feasibility study, given the six-month timeline to complete it, the opportunity to apply for those larger grants to pay for the actual pool likely would have been missed.
Funds are also being raised through a capital campaign that was launched last year.
Right now, the goal is to raise $1.2 million for the project, which includes plans for a “broader recreation area,” Walinsky says.
“We need to spend this year planning all that out,” she added.
It’s likely that the Cressona Pool will be closed through the 2027 season, barring any miraculous donor that comes forward with the money to pay for the project once final plans are completed. Walinksy said one of the caveats with a pool project is that it can’t be completed in phases. All money must be in hand before work can get started.
BACK STORY: Here is our complete coverage of the Cressona Pool closing, beginning when Coal Region Canary broke the news that it likely wouldn’t be opening for the 2025 season …
- Public Swimming Pool in Cressona in Danger of Not Opening in 2025
- Cressona Pool Won’t Open in 2025
- Cressona Provides Update on Public Swimming Pool
- Cressona Launching $1.2 Million Capital Campaign to Rebuild Public Swimming Pool
- Cressona Pool Won’t Reopen in 2026 and Prospects Seem Low for 2027
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