Leechburg Area Pool board seeks financial relief for repairs, updates

Board members of the Leechburg Area Pool have gotten their money’s worth out of the pool’s filtration system.

Constructed in 1962, the community attraction still utilizes its original 1960s-era filtration system. According to pool board treasurer Steve Senjan, the equipment just isn’t cutting it anymore.

“Everything in there is rotted and falling apart,” said Senjan, of Gilpin. “A rebuild isn’t feasible.”

Board members called upon local leaders to assist the board in finding funding to replace the filtration system and complete other pool repairs.

While the filtration system still keeps the pool clean, its maintenance requires the filters be cleaned two to three times a week during the pool’s busy season. Each session takes workers anywhere between four and five hours, Senjan said.

He said modern filters can filter through a minimum of 1,000 gallons of water a minute, while the current system maxes out at 720 gallons.

The pool holds 360,000 gallons of water.

When asked what moved the board to reach out for help, Senjan said, “More or less, everything started to fail.”

He said the board decided to try not lean on individual donations before seeing how grants and other avenues of funding work out.

The system is housed in a steel pit behind the diving board area. On one side of the area is the filtration system and the electric power system that keeps it running. On the other side are the pipes and water.

Senjan said bracing that keeps everything separate is in bad shape and risks collapsing.

At minimum, the project is projected to cost the pool between $100,000 and $120,000.

Senjan said the project would empty the pool’s savings if the board opted to pay for the project out of pocket. Any project hiccups or complications would leave them without other options.

The board called in help from Gilpin Supervisor Charles Stull and Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea to see if there were any grant options available.

“In the coming months, Commissioner Shea and I will work to identify potential grant opportunities and I also intend to personally assist the board in preparing and submitting applications to secure the funding this facility needs,” Stull said in a social media post.

Senjan said the pool consistently turns a profit each season. Its main sources of revenue are gate fees, food, rentals and memberships.

In addition to the filtration system, the board is looking to make improvements around the facility to attract new members and encourage accessibility.

Senjan said the board would like to update the pool’s slides. The projected cost would come to $90,000, according to notes from the meeting provided by pool board President Matt Jagodrinski.

Another project would be repaving the parking lot ($120,000), an ADA-friendly “beach access” to the pool (about $100,000), miscellaneous upgrades to the property’s baby pool ($25,000) and other general upgrades amounting to $180,000.

The total needed for all the projects is $635,000, according to Jagodrinski. Senjan said the board will be prioritizing the filtration project, the slide addition and the “beach access” in the short term. While the pool has a lift system, it would effectively be eliminated with the addition of the beach access design.