Holiday House Pool is managed as a joint venture of West Rockhill and Sellersville communities.
Local swimming enthusiasts can breathe a sigh of relief as the Holiday House pool will open for the 2024 swim season.
The greenlight was given by the Sellersville Borough Council, who voted unanimously during a Public Management committee meeting Wednesday evening to move forward with plans to open and complete the 2024 swim season.
The decision follows weeks of uncertainty over the pool’s future due to extensive outstanding capital improvements and a lack of support from West Rockhill Township.
The pool, a joint venture of Sellersville and West Rockhill, has faced mounting criticism from the West Rockhill Board of Supervisors regarding its long-term viability and financial burden on the township. In recent years, the township has repeatedly pumped more money into the pool to keep it afloat amidst aging infrastructure and dwindling memberships.
At its December meeting, the West Rockhill Board of Supervisors budgeted $13,000 for the pool, far short of the $50,000 initially requested by the West Rockhill-Sellersville Joint Recreation Authority (JRA), and made further support contingent on a marketing study.
At its January meeting, the supervisors withheld the pool’s budgeted $13,000 for outreach efforts. (Sellersville, by contrast, budgeted and dispersed $15,000.) West Rockhill Supervisors have also not filled two vacancies on the JRA despite having at least one available candidate.
The opposition from West Rockhill prompted the JRA to hold a special meeting on Tuesday, January 23 to discuss whether the authority had the resources to open the pool. A standing-room only crowd of nearly one hundred residents implored the board to open the pool, casting it as the area’s lone asset and a vital amenity for children.
The following night, Sellersville Borough Council agreed to move forward with plans to open the pool. During the meeting, Don Crouthamel, JRA chairman and Sellersville council member, informed council that the pool’s budget is premised on an expected 450 sold memberships, roughly $50,000 in corporate sponsorships and other fundraising efforts and the eventual dispersement of the $13,000 appropriation from West Rockhill. He also advised council of the pool’s $60,000 capital budget and that any significant unforeseen capital expenses would produce a deficit.
While council approved plans to open the pool for the 2024 swim season, members did not pledge any additional funding beyond the pool’s $15,000 appropriation. However, Crouthamel said he views council’s decision as a "tacit agreement” to fund a year-end deficit if needed.
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