Whitehall Pool to be demolished, replaced

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop of it in the Whitehall Borough Pool.

This summer, the Whitehall Borough Pool will remain closed due to concerns over its structural integrity, and plans for its replacement on the same site are well underway, according to borough manager James Leventry.

“This pool is (more than) 55 years old,” Leventry said. “It’s done.”

The pool was originally built in 1965 and has not seen a renovation in decades, Leventry said. He said the pool has been in disrepair for years, and the upcoming demolition and reconstruction is a welcome change.

“Over the past five years, we’ve put every Band-Aid on that we could,” said long-time Whitehall pool manager Walt Milinski.

Milinski said that he has seen the pool deteriorate over his 22-year career as pool manager. Specifically, over the past few years, Milinski and his staff have noticed a significant decline in the pool’s stability, frequently fighting what he describes as “tremendous leaking.”

According to Milinski, water leaking out of the pool was causing the ground around it to become saturated, and in turn, push in on the walls of the pool. Additionally, the water leaking from the bottom was damaging one of the employee areas beneath the pool.

Leventry said that the plans for the new pool include a number of significant upgrades. In addition to a stable infrastructure, the new pool will feature a climbing wall, diving board, water slide, shade sail, children’s area, exercise area, bath house and splash pad.

“The old pool we had, it’s a very nice pool,” Milinski said. “But it’s not very kid-friendly.”

He is confident that the new pool will better meet the needs of all age groups in the community.

The proposed plan received full approval by Whitehall Borough Council in mid-May, and demolition is slated to begin between the end of July and the beginning of August. The demolition is said to cost the borough $142,000, and the new pool is projected to cost $5 million.

The construction contract for the new pool has not been awarded yet, but council is expected to begin accepting bids in January 2022.

Given the intensity of the project, the new pool is not slated to be finished until Memorial Day Weekend in 2023.

“You can’t rip a pool out and build a new one in a year,” Leventry said.

Due to covid-19, the Whitehall pool was closed for the vast majority of last season. It opened for about six weeks last summer but quickly had to close again over the mounting safety concerns.

In total, the pool will be closed to Whitehall residents for nearly three years from the time of the initial shutdown in summer 2020 to the grand reopening of the renovated pool in spring 2023.

But Leventry said this shouldn’t be a big setback to the community.

He said only roughly 10% of Whitehall community members have a pool pass — and even fewer actually use it. However, Milinski believes there will be a significant uptick in pool membership once the renovations are completed.

“Try to be patient,” Milinski said, “It’s going to be well worth it.”