LANSFORD, Pa. — What looks like a murky pond from Skycam 16 is actually the Lansford community pool. It's sat vacant for over seven years, but work has finally started to repair and restore it for the community to use.
"Seven years of fundraising, seven years of chicken dinners, soup sales, festivals, we sold t-shirts, we've done pretty much all that we can do," Gwyneth Collevechio, Friends of the Lansford Pool, said.
The pool has been closed since the end of the summer of 2015 after maintenance crews realized a leak in the pool.
Collevechio is the treasurer for Friends of the Lansford Pool, who has been working to reopen it.
She said through fundraisers, donations, and state grants, the borough had the money to start repair work. But they ran into some problems.
"Pandemic problems and the supply chain problems, same thing with the piping, we had to wait for that. We thought we're going to start this in May, and the piping didn't come in. So they're going to cap off with the leak, put new piping around the pool, and then we also have to get new skimmer pots," Collevechio said.
The Lansford Pool has been closed for a long time. People said they're thrilled that work is finally being done.
"There's not really much to do around here, and it's hot. To have to travel to Lehighton and all that, you know, it's not easy, especially when you know you only have one car and whatever, but now we can just walk right to it, so we're excited," Chelsie Bowen, of Lansford, said.
"My wife grew up here, and she would go walk down from Summit Hill to the pool and stuff. Hopefully, the kids appreciate what these people have done for them," John Shemansik of Summit Hill said.
If the project sticks to schedule, the borough hopes to open the pool in summer 2023.
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