Lansdale takes deep dive into possible pool repairs

The calendar may show that it’s still spring, but the borough has its sights set on summer, as council contemplates work needed on Lansdale’s two pools.

Council heard a lengthy presentation on May 15 about the Whites Road and Fourth Street pools, including estimated price tags in the millions to do full repairs and revamps of each.

“We’re fortunate in Lansdale that we have two community pools, and we’re trying to upgrade them and make them enticing, so that not only our residents will want to join, but with new amenities, we’ll have the newest, coolest thing on the block,” said council President Mary Fuller.

A winter survey asked the pool’s users what new features or amenities they’d like to see at the pools, while staff reported earlier this month on winter weathering and deterioration at Whites Road that was repaired ahead of the start of 2024’s pool season.

On May 15, council took a deeper dive, hearing a roughly hour-long presentation from outside consultants Brent Boyer and Thomas Reed of Aquatic Facility Design on an analysis they’ve done of both pool complexes, the near-term fixes both need, and the long-term upgrades the town could make to revamp both.

Whites Road

At Whites Road, the consultant surveyed and studied the main competition pool, the smaller intermediate pool, and the beach-entry wading pool.

“All have finish issues, in that they have a plaster finish applied, that finish is failing on all three pools, and you have mechanical issues on all three pools,” Boyer said.

    Photo of existing conditions, including patches on the pool floor, at Lansdale’s Whites Road Pool.
  

Based on talks with an internal steering committee consisting of pool staff and users, the consultant has developed a plan to reconfigure all three pools to increase accessibility, remove and replace failing valves and mechanical equipment, and refinish.

Early cost estimates for the mechanical repairs total roughly $1.2 million to fix all known issues, and adding the reconfigurations and accessibility upgrades to meet current Americans with Disabilities Act standards could bring that total to roughly $3 million, with another $500,000 in upgrades to the restroom facility also possible.

    Photo of existing conditions, with lanes striped for competitions, at Lansdale’s Whites Road Pool.
  

Fourth Street

Similar study was done to the town’s Fourth Street pool, with better news: “You’re in much better shape, mechanical-wise, for this year, moving forward, on Fourth Street,” Boyer said.

“It’s Whites Road that has a lot more pressing issues. You can get by, just touching up and patching, on Fourth Street,” he said.

A revamp concept has been developed by the consultant that carries a total price tag of roughly $2 million, Boyer told council, and the consultant has estimated a price tag of roughly $25,000 to $50,000 for patching the damage currently seen there, and around $150,000 to fully replaster the main pool.

The larger project would add stairs, move one slide, and add a new wading pool at Fourth Street, and would add a “splash pad” and spray area. Interior renovations of the current changing room area would add roughly $500,000 to the price tag.

“They’re our best guess, based on what other people are doing,” he said.

    Photo of existing conditions, including patches on the pool floor, at Lansdale’s Fourth Street Pool.
  

Councilwoman Carrie Olgesby asked if the plans included fences around the children’s pool and/or removal of trees around the pools, and Boyer said any fencing would be determined as plans are refined, and his company always tries to keep as many trees as possible. “We don’t cut down your trees, unless you tell us to, or unless they’re in the way of what you’re building.”

Parks and recreation director Courtney Meehan said the overall goal of the planners and internal pool committee that vetted the plans is to keep the character and feel of both the same, with Whites Road large enough to handle competitions and Fourth Street more casual.

“Fourth Street is used primarily for lessons, and we’d like to continue that: it is a smaller pool. Some of the initial concepts that were presented were really, really fun-looking, but also took up a lot of space in the pool, so there was a concern it would take away space from the lessons, the dive-in movie, the puppy plunge, things like that,” she said.

    Photo of existing conditions at Lansdale’s Fourth Street Pool.
  

Meehan added that she and her staff have helped the operator of the pool concession stands make minor upgrades to those facilities already, and said she and department were open to any and all input and feedback on the larger plans.

“You would have to start now — it takes the whole (winter) season to do it,” Boyer said. “The next phase is all the documents, and the blueprints, and the plans, to place it out to bid. You’d have to start immediately with that, and you could have (a contract) awarded by the time you close (at the end of summer), to hire someone to do this before you reopen” in spring 2025.

Fuller said no decision is imminent and the parks and recreation committee would continue talks as they develop their 2025 budget, but she would warn against any delays.

“We know it’s a lot of money, but it’s only going to get more expensive, the longer you wait to do it,” she said.

How would upgrades be funded?

Boyer and Meehan said a recent round of grant opportunities has just passed an application deadline, and the parks director said she’d like to avoid any major pool membership fee hike. Staff and the consultant can look for grants in future years, and Fuller said a long-discussed borough capital project bond could be another option.

“That spreads a debt over 30 years, and we have a life (estimate) of 30 years — makes sense? It’s a community amenity, so spreading the debt over a couple of generations makes sense for a project like this,” she said.

The council president added thanks to the volunteers, including pool staff and longtime users, who helped vet the plans prior to the presentation.

“We had a great range of people, with longtime experience at both Fourth Street and Whites Road, who offered their input and really vetted and talked through these designs,” she said. “They were very impressive, and really knew their stuff, and I really like where we landed.”

Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 8:30 p.m. on June 5 with the parks and recreation committee next meeting at 7:30 p.m. that night, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.

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