SCRANTON, Pa. — Concrete framing and site prep work are all signs of pool projects underway in the city of Scranton.
"It's really important that we make sure that our parks throughout the entire city are a great asset for all of our neighborhoods, for all of our families that live here in Scranton," said Mayor Paige Cognetti.
She says new in-ground pools at Nay Aug Park and Weston Field have been in the works for years, and what started off as just drawn-out plans and designs are finally starting to take shape.
"It's been a lot to get to this point. We're spending almost $12 million in our parks right now," said Cognetti. "The American Rescue Plan has enabled that."
It's not just the big parks that are seeing benefits from these millions of dollars in investments, but also the neighborhood ones as well. Like here at Connell Park, where the pool is getting a facelift.
"We've got Connell Pool, Weston Field, and here at Nay Aug, we're rebuilding these pools, making sure that we're able to have kids and everyone swimming here for generations to come," said Cognetti.
"I mean, I remember bringing my kids here when they were young, you know, years ago, and they loved it here, you know, before we had our own pool or anything like that," said Donna Reichle.
She spent many summers at the Nay Aug pool while growing up in Scranton.
Reichle says she is excited about the project and sees it as a way for families to beat the heat in the summer.
"Not everybody has, you know, their own backyard pool, something to do in the summer, and gets them to the park too, which there's a lot of other things to do here," says Reichle. "You know, there's a lot of hiking and, and playgrounds and things like that. So, I think it's a kind of an, all-in-one kind of nice place to come."
The pool projects throughout the city of Scranton are expected to be completed sometime in 2025.