'Splash park' and more proposed for Greensburg pool

Veterans' Memorial Pool at Greensburg's Lynch Field could feature a new splash park with sprinklers and other water features for kids when it reopens in 2019.

Alloy5 Architecture Firm of Bethlehem recently revealed its plans for the pool, which will be closed this summer while work is under way.

The plan is tentative, cautioned pool manager Trudy Ivory.

Some proposed features might be cut to keep the project within its $850,000 budget, or if city leaders don't think they'd be used enough to justify their construction and maintenance.

In addition to the splash park, the plan features two new water slides, which join the one already at the pool; an aquatic zipline over a small pool separate from the main swimming area; a new pavilion; a zero-depth entry area that will allow visitors to walk into shallow water from the pool's edge; facade improvements for the nearby buildings; and more.

City leaders will meet with the architect over the next month to figure out which of these ideas will stay, Ivory said.

The plan was made with feedback from students at Greensburg Salem Middle School.

Though new features such as the splash park are the most visible additions, behind-the-scenes improvements are even more important, Ivory said.

“I want to focus on that first,” she said. “I want to make sure all of that is sound and in good working order. I want to start at the bottom, and add a good working foundation, and then build up from there.”

Many of the pool's mechanical components, such as pumps and filters, were installed decades ago and are overdue for replacement, she said.

The splash park and pavilion probably will make it into the final design, as well as an extensive overhaul of the bathhouse, including new showers and dressing rooms, Ivory said.

The work will be paid for with most of a $1.2 million bond the city issued last year.

About 150 people a day typically use the 7,000-square-foot pool in the summer. The pool saw a total of 11,650 swimmers last year, city officials said.

The Greensburg YMCA took over operations at the pool from the city in 2014, but that contract expired at the end of last year and was not renewed. The city will go back to managing the facility.

“We hope that everybody is patient with us this summer,” Ivory said. “It's a big project. It's not something that can be done in a couple of months, and that's the reason we decided not to open this summer.”

Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.