Shaler pool bathhouse being demolished to make way for $2M replacement facility

The end of this year’s swim season was also the end for the original, 61-year-old bathhouse at Crawford Pool in Shaler’s Kiwanis Park.

The bathhouse, dating from when the pool opened in July 1964, is being demolished and the site prepared for its replacement by Oct. 30, township Manager Judy Kording said.

Demolition was scheduled to start the week of Sept. 8.

Construction of a new bathhouse is expected to start in November, with the facility opening on Memorial Day weekend.

At their August meeting, township commissioners awarded the demolition contract to RCC Building Contractors. The company had submitted the lower of two bids, $47,223, Kording said.

Commissioner Frank Iozzo was absent.

Issues with the bathhouse include it was built on steel columns that have rusted out and its underground cast iron lines have become restricted over time, causing some capacity issues, Kording said.

The bathhouse is an “open air concept,” and wildlife tends to get inside it during the winter.

The new bathhouse will be a closed facility, Kording said.

Avon Design Group is working on specifications for the new bathhouse. The township could seek bids in September and award a contract in October.

The new facility is expected to cost under $2 million, with the money coming from the township’s capital improvement fund, Kording said.

Built at the same location and with a similar footprint and size, Kording said the new bathhouse will include storage areas, offices, a first aid room, guard room, restroom, showers and changing facilities.

It will not have heating or cooling for the entire building, but there will be some area air conditioners, she said.