Brentwood hoping for Memorial Day 2020 opening of new pool

The Brentwood Borough pool is closed for the summer as it undergoes a roughly $3 million facelift to make way for many more years of fun in the sun.

The pool renovations will include adding a zero depth entry, large slide, new bathhouse with restrooms and changing areas and more green space.

“It’s just another amenity for the community that maybe will attract people from outside Brentwood to then come here and frequent our businesses — and maybe purchase a home here,” said borough Manager George Zboyovsky.

Demolition of the existing bathhouse and decking adjacent to the Brentwood Civic Center already is underway. A contract for that project was awarded to A.W. McNabb, LLC. for $68,000 in March.

The pool renovation project itself is out to bid, with bid openings planned for July 10. It’s estimated construction will cost about $2.5 million, Zboyovsky said.

Council members likely will award a contract in July. The hope is that the pool will be ready to open for Memorial Day weekend in 2020.

In the meantime, Baldwin Borough leaders are allowing Brentwood residents to swim at the Baldwin Borough municipal pool off of Churchview Avenue at a Baldwin Borough resident rate, Zboyovsky said.

Renovations to the pool have been talked about for roughly a decade, Zboyovsky said. A feasibility study was done in 2015 to look at upgrades needed.

In true Brentwood fashion, the Brentwood pool opened on July 4, 1928, as part of a dedication of the community park. It underwent significant renovations in 1976.

But the pool basin has deteriorated, along with the interior and exterior concrete and plumbing, Zboyovsky said. That’s why this project needed to be done.

Over the last few years, the project has seen progress. Last year, it was discovered that the bath house’s “structural integrity” was “compromised and deteriorating,” Zboyovsky said.

The borough received two Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund grants totaling $175,000 and a Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant administered through the U.S. National Parks Service for $795,000 to assist with the project.

Borough leaders initially had planned to award a contract as early as February or March for the project, hoping to get lower rates from contractors working on a pool over the summer, Zboyovsky said. But the federal shutdown in December delayed the receipt of the federal grant.

In 2018, Brentwood borrowed $7 million to fund both the new borough building project underway on Brownsville Road and the pool renovation project.

Because Brentwood received a federal grant, the borough pool, which in the past has only been open to Brentwood residents, in the future must be open to all, Zboyovsky said.

Brentwood leaders will set a non-resident rate for the pool during budget season.

Leaders also are working with the nonprofit Brentwood Park Initiative to add shade structures to the area. The BPI already has secured a grant for suntan lotion dispensers to be placed at the pool area, Zboyovsky said.

Brentwood this month also learned that it received a $20,000 Community Development grant from South Hills Area Council of Governments to renovate the Civic Center, located just in front of the pool, in 2020.

That will include making restrooms and doorways handicap accessible and possibly giving the exterior a fresh coat of paint.

With the pool closed, Brentwood leaders are trying to offer other activities this summer to keep residents cool, like the recreation departments recent fun in the sun day at Brentwood stadium, Zboyovsky said. More will be planned throughout the summer.