Scottdale places shuttered swimming pool up for auction

A Scottdale landmark where generations of local kids learned to swim is on the auction block.

Online bids are being accepted for the borough-owned swimming pool building through 4 p.m. Oct. 7, on the Municibid website.

Constructed in the early 1970s by the local YMCA, the brick-and-block building is located on Pioneer Way, next to the town’s library. The community’s first stand-alone library was built on the site of the original YMCA.

During the 1980s, all Southmoreland School District fourth graders took swimming classes at the building, according to Paul Johnson, a native of Canada who moved to the area and served as a swim instructor and executive director of the Y in 1981-84 and in 1990-98.

The Scottdale pool also drew residents from Mt. Pleasant and Connellsville who were looking for a place to swim. It’s swim team developed a reputation for winning in competition with other Y-sponsored squads in the region, and it included at least one Latrobe swimmer in its ranks, Johnson said.

“We’d have 60 kids on the swim team, and they’d just dominate the other Ys,” he said. “They were nationally recognized swimmers for about 10 years. They always did well in states, and we would take a team down to Florida.”

According to Borough Manager Angelo Pallone, Scottdale in 2017 purchased the shuttered pool building for $1 from a nonprofit that had operated it for about 15 years, after the YMCA relocated to East Huntingdon. The nonprofit wasn’t in a financial position to continue running the pool, he said.

Scottdale officials had considered renovating the drained pool and moving the borough offices there. Instead, they’ve used block grant funds to make improvements for handicapped-accessibility at the current borough headquarters — a converted lumber company building and salt shed on Mt. Pleasant Road.

The 7,600-square-foot swimming pool building is being sold as is. Pallone said the exterior of the structure is sound, but he noted borough officials have little expertise concerning the pool equipment.

“Some re-pointing of the bricks may be needed,” he said, noting the roof has seen repairs.

He suggested the building could once more be used as a swimming facility or might be transformed into housing or office or retail space.

“It’s an ideal location,” he said. “It’s one block from the main street of downtown.”

According to Pallone, a local property owner has proposed possible use of the pool by area medical professionals, for aquatic therapy.

The borough has set a starting bid of $11,000 for the property — less than the reserve price, which Pallone said he’s not ready to reveal. If no one meets or exceeds that price, he said, the borough has the option to accept the highest responsible offer.

For the past few years, Scottdale has been without a public swimming pool. Executive Director Steve Simon said a pool is on the wish list of the YMCA of Laurel Highlands, in East Huntingdon, but millions of dollars would be needed to make that dream a reality.

The East Huntingdon Y’s aquatic programs are limited to paddle boarding sessions at Green Lick Lake in Fayette County and the Laurelville Christian Retreat Center pool in Mt. Pleasant Township.