Clarion Borough’s public pool will not open this year after all.
“We had every intention, but there are just too many things at the pool that need to be repaired,” said council member Rachel Roberts, who chairs the recreation committee and whose announcement came during the council’s meeting earlier this month.
A tour of the pool facility, led by Clarion Borough Code Enforcement Officer Scott Sharrar, revealed the list of needed repairs and renovations is lengthy – and expensive.
From the outside, it’s easy to see the edges separating from the eaves. The roof is a flat, rubber-based roof, about 25 to 30 years old.
Inside the office and the restrooms, rotting wood, water stains from leaks, and black mold in the ceiling area of every room in the building is visible.
Sharrar said the building needs a new, peaked roof – estimated a couple of years ago to cost about $40,000. The cost of building materials this year has probably put that cost much higher.
In the men’s room, an electrical service box is exposed and out-of-date.
Sharrar said the service box must be upgraded and secured from tampering.
Much of the concrete walking area surrounding the pool is uneven, with raised edges creating tripping hazards.
An embankment of the west side is eroding.
The gazebo must be sanded and refinished, as the rough surfaces present many splinters for anyone using the shelter.
The small playground must have a rubber-mulch base to meet state codes.
The rubber surfaces on the sliding board have become sunbaked and almost non-existent.
And the main attraction, the pool itself, leaks.
Sharrar pointed out major cracks in the pool that allow water to drain from the pool.
Sharrar is concerned the leaking water is eroding the ground base under the pool.
“It could just collapse someday, and all of a sudden the pool is much deeper than it’s supposed to be,” he said.
The problem at the pool is basic maintenance, Sharrar said, and a small public works department needed on other projects in the summer makes it hard to keep up with the pool.
“The borough just doesn’t have the people or the money,” he said.
For the past several years, pool management was handled by contract with the Clarion County YMCA. The nonprofit notified the borough earlier this year it would not manage the pool in 2021.
In April, the council agreed to work out a management contract with Georgia-based USA Pool Management to operate the pool this year.
“We visited the pool to address some of the requirements, and after looking at some of the coding issues we would have to meet all Pennsylvania and Georgia codes because that’s where USA Pool is headquartered. The pool needs extensive work and we don’t have the funds or the time to do it this season.”
The cost of USA Pool Management services was not to exceed $26,530. The contract with USA Pool Management was contingent on the pool “holding water and the pipes working.”
Councilmember Ben Aaron said, “It’s beyond mere repairs. It’s renovations.”
Aaron pointed out the pool did not open in 2020 and will not open in 2021, leaving the borough with some money for renovations.
Aaron also referenced the mold in the changing rooms.
“I wouldn’t let my kids in there; I’m not going to open for other people’s kids,” he said.
Councilmember Brenda Sanders Dede asked if the borough might be able to secure grant funding if it owned the pool instead of leasing the facility from Clarion Area School District.
Todd Colosimo, Clarion Borough projects coordinator, said owning the pool probably wouldn’t make much difference in obtaining grants.
Colosimo noted the borough has a 25-year lease agreement with the school district. That agreement was last renewed in 2012.