LANSFORD, Pa. — Lucille Colburn of Coaldale says it's hard to remember the last time the Lansford pool was open, but when it was she loved it.
"Last time it was open we always did. almost every Saturday with the kids because When we first moved here my grandbabies were a little bit older than her so they played in the pool all the time," said Colburn.
But after loads of memories at the pool, It's time to say goodbye.
The Borough council decided to nix the idea of repairing the pool, which has been closed since 2015 after maintenance crews found a leak.
Some of the pool walls were also a problem. The price tag to fix it, about $1 million. Money the borough doesn't have.
"We all are upset but the dollar signs just don't allow for us to take it on we just can't and so we're sad about it but we also need to look to the future and know that we're still going to have something here," said Gwyneth Collevechio, the treasurer for Friends of the Lansford Pool, the group that's been working to reopen it.
The new vision is to fill in the pool and install a splash pad.
The Borough will keep the existing baby pool, which they say they can get up and running.
Collevechio says the splash pad is a much cheaper option.
"You don't need a feasibility study, you don't need lifeguards," Collevechio said. "The water recycles. Yeah, some of it will exasperate, some of it will come out of the system but you don't need as much as you do for the pool so it's more cost-effective and they're fun."
"It's nice I think they ought to have something for the kids here very much so because the kids there's a lot of kids around here that would enjoy that," Colburn said.
Future plans include adding pavilions around the splash pad and adding an amphitheater to the space.
Lansford Borough council plans to review designs for the splash pad in January, with the hope of having it open next spring or summer.