Beating the heat at the Apollo Area Community Pool will be an option for local residents this summer, but next year might be a different story.
Failure to raise enough money to make needed repairs and meet operating costs could drain the pool for good next year, according to Beth Weinel, chairman of the Apollo Area Recreation Authority and a member of the pool board.
"Our main concern now is we need the community to use the pool, that's where we get our funds," Weinel said. "It's a community-owned pool. Nobody owns it but the people who use it. It's looking scary for next year."
"By this point in time, we should be seeing the memberships coming in and we just aren't getting people to buy passes," she added.
Pam Altemose, president of the pool board, said there are a number of reasons membership is down, not the least of which is that many people have pools at home and fund-raising is increasingly difficult.
"Our fundraisers bring in a couple hundred dollars at a pop," Altemose said.
Weinel said other pools in the area are being updated more often, making them harder to compete with.
Overall, Weinel said the pool is in need of a complete renovation, including a resurfacing of the entire pool bottom and a new pool liner. She said a firm that specializes in pool renovations gave the Apollo pool board an estimate of $600,000 to renovate the property, including the bathhouse.
She said they had to abandon that proposal at the behest of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, when the board accepted a $280,000 grant from DCNR. However, Weinel said they had to return the grant when DCNR did their own estimate of costs for the renovation and came back with price of $800,000 --- just to redo the pool.
Also, she said the pool receives no funding from any of the municipalities in the area nor Armstrong County, even though it is probably the only recreation facility in Kiski Township area.
Instead of a major renovation, Weinel said the pool board and the recreation authority were left with doing improvements on a patchwork basis. She said the pool pump machinery was underground which created problems and had to be relocated. It cost $12,000 and left the pool in a deficit situation. Weinel said the board cannot do that this year.
"We cannot proceed with anything until we know the community is behind us," she said.
"There are so many people who have no idea what you have to do to open a pool," said Michele Copeland, also an authority and pool board member.
Had they been at the pool Saturday, they could have gotten a good idea.
A small army of volunteers, including about 40 members of the Apollo-Ridge High School football team, were hard at work cleaning up the property, painting the bathhouse and patching and painting the pool.
The football players chipped in as part of Coach John Simon's requirement that his players do at least two community service projects per year.
"I try to tell the kids that it's not just about football, it's about academics, it's about community service," Simon said.
He said he grew up in the Apollo area, played football at and graduated from Apollo-Ridge. Simon said he emphasizes to his players that the community supports them and they need to support the community.
Senior center Mike Bier, 17, of Kiski Township, is a believer.
"It's a great feeling helping the community. It helps with the (team) work ethic," Bier said, as he sported hands covered with blue paint used on the pool walls.
As for the possibility of the pool closing after this summer, Bier said, "That would put a damper on the community for sure. A lot of my friends come here and hang out."
"It would be horrible," said Todd Jakosh, 18, a fullback/defensive end from North Apollo. "I've been swimming here since I was a little kid."
Weinel said the board hopes to complete its work on the property this week and fill the pool so that it will be ready to open on Memorial Day.
Additional Information:Staying afloat
The Apollo Area Community Pool has encountered financial problems for several reasons, particularly a decline in memberships. Board member Beth Weinel said the pool needs 100 memberships to maintain operations. According to Pam Altemose, pool board president, here are the membership figures for the past four years along with those to date in 2009:
2005 - 103 total memberships
2006 - 99
2007 - 71
2008 - 51
2009 - 21
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In an effort to attract members, the Apollo Area Community Pool, is offering 'early bird' discounts. People purchasing season passes by May 23 will get a $50 discount on a family pass that normally costs $225 and $40 off an individual membership usually priced at $140.
