The Oneonta town pool renovations are nearing completion, with plans to open for the upcoming summer season.
Renovations on the pool, which is next to Greater Plains Elementary School at 51 West End Ave., began at the end of May, Oneonta Town Board member Joe Camarata said Thursday, April 9.
The town contracted with 21st Century Pools and Spa, based in Vestal. It demolished the existing pool to replace it with a new concrete membrane pool, roughly the same size as the old one at about 38 feet by 50 feet, Camarata said.
He added that it would have new concrete, pumps and controls.
“It’s going to be a beautiful pool,” Camarata said. “That is for sure.”
He said the contractors are finishing the concrete work, including the apron on the outside of the pool, which contains the border around the pool’s edges. It will start installing the membrane — sheets that waterproof and protect the inside of the pool — and the pool liner to hook up the necessary pumps.
The installation work likely will be complete by about the second or third week of May, Camarata said, and the pool likely would open to the public around the third week of June, should everything go according to plan. Renovation work began last May and continued until the weather prevented crews from being able to pour concrete or install the membrane.
The town had some funding set aside in its reserves for the renovations, Camarata said, receiving an additional $185,000 from an anonymous donor. The town also received a $100,000 State and Municipal Facilities grant from Assembly member Brian Miller’s office. He said the total project cost added up to about $800,000.
The pool dates back to the 1970s. Since then, there had not been a renovation this major to the facility, outside of minor work like the installation of new pool liners, he said. The town also is planning to hold a grand opening.
The town pool is free for people to use during open hours and is funded through the town’s pool reserve.
Caitlin Cook-Wightman, the pool director, said Thursday the pool’s free swim lessons service about 200 kids. Open swim hours draw about 100 individuals daily, she added.
“It’s definitely smaller than the Wilber pool, but we like it that way,” Cook-Wightman said.
The pool is open during the summer seven days a week, with adult swim from noon to 1 p.m., open swim from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and family swim 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Individuals under 18 need to have an adult accompany them for family swim hours.
Cook-Wightman said adult swim has grown in popularity, and many of those who live within walking distance from the pool use it daily throughout the season.
“The community that we service on that side of town is just so important,” Cook-Wightman said. “I know everybody was really missing it last year.”
She said many of the pool’s staff, including lifeguards, depend on the income during the summer. Swim lessons run for a five-week period, Monday to Friday, Cook-Wightman added.
“You cannot get that amount of time in the water that is free,” Cook-Wightman said. “That is just so valuable for any community.”
Camarata added that the town, for the second year, has applied for grant funding through the state for a project that would involve converting the tennis courts outside of Greater Plains school to pickle ball courts, creating a walking path from the school to Butler Street, installing a splash pad and building a pavilion. He said the project would cost about $1.5 million.
He said the town has sought out funding from two grants, a state Statewide Investment in More Swimming grant and a parks grant. The town has not yet heard back whether it received the funding this year.