SCRANTON, Pa. — Billy Toole often takes a morning stroll through Nay Aug Park in Scranton
But rather than walking by a large pool complex, complete with a pair of slides large enough to excite any kid, now he's greeted by a mostly empty gravel lot and a ripped-up slide.
"Ah, it's depressing for the area," Toole said.
The pool here hasn't hosted a swimmer since the summer of 2019. But still, it was a sad sight for many who watched the pool's water slides come down on Tuesday.
Toole remembers when they went up in 2003. At the time, those slides cost city taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000.
"It was great. The kids liked it. It was something new in the area."
Much of the pool area was ripped up back in February. The pool house and the pump house will be torn down next.
"I think it's terrible. If they don't build a regular pool in here, then it's useless," said Scranton resident Joseph Grecco.
As for what will replace the pool complex, that remains unclear. Mayor Paige Cognetti says the demolition is part of a larger, long-term plan to review the entire park. But where the money will come from for that is also unclear.
Prior ideas floated throughout the past year have included a splash-pad-pool-combo, but Cognetti says the city can't afford something like that right now.
"We just came out of Act 47 in January, and I have no intention to borrow funds as we come out of Act 47, especially in this interest rate environment. Hopefully, we're sitting here in a year, 18 months, two years, looking at a better economic picture, maybe interest rates down, materials costs down, maybe launching a bigger and better plan."
The city had been pre-awarded a $2 million state grant in the fall of 2021 but ultimately decided not to pursue that funding.
During last night's city council meeting, council members were disappointed to see the slides go.
"The slides that the mayor is tearing down represent Scranton's revitalization 20 years ago, a pool complex that everyone was proud of and where thousands of residents came each year. The slide was the main attraction," said Councilman Mark McAndrew. "Now all we have is an empty space with overgrown grass, an unsightly blighted mess where a bustling pool complex once existed."
Councilman Tom Schuster pointed to a March 2021 inspection that found no issues with the slides.
"On 3-9 of '21, he said there was no corrosion on the slides, there was no cracks on the slides, and there was no leaks on the slides, and they could be re-used from their inspection. I don't understand why the slides were destroyed, and I think it's a big mistake," Schuster said.
"It's hard anytime that you have to take something down. Taking down the slide was difficult, but it had become a monument to poor planning. It went up in 2003, and unfortunately, those pools were not maintained in the meantime," Cognetti said.
Cognetti says taking a harder look at the park as a whole will mean future generations have something to enjoy for even longer than those 20 years we enjoyed the slides.
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