SEBCO Pool directors consider upgrades
While annual improvements are made at the 56-year-old SEBCO Pool in Jefferson Township’s Laura Doerr Park, major repairs are needed to keep the pool open moving into the future.
Greg Bauer, president of the SEBCO Pool board of directors, said Jefferson Township supervisors commissioned a pool study last year to determine the work needed at the pool and offer upgrade options.
The study is required by organizations accepting grant applications, Bauer said.
Among the three options recommended in the study, one was a total overhaul of all systems at a cost of $8 million.
Bauer said the pool board would likely go with the least expensive option, at a little more than $1 million.
That option would replace the pool’s heater, place a liner at the bottom to correct the cracks in the concrete, and repair the aging pump room, Bauer said.
The final decision on which option to use will depend on the grant funds received by the township.
He said grant applications have been submitted over the last year.
“We can’t even make a decision if we’re doing the renovation or what yet, until we know what kind of funding we’re going to get,” Bauer said.
He said work is needed on the pool’s electrical system, but that would likely not be included in the upcoming renovation.
“We’re finding out a lot of things are almost 60 years old,” Bauer said.
He said a project in the early 2000s added a zero entry, new slide and water features to the pool.
Bauer said in each of his dozen years on the pool board, an affordable project to improve the pool has been completed.
Repairs, new flooring and a new roof at the bathhouses are among those projects, he said.
The 140,000-gallon pool was a members-only facility until the early 2000s, when the township purchased the pool.
It was then opened to the public, Bauer said.
Bauer said more and more Allegheny County and Pittsburgh residents are enjoying the pool this year, as many pools in Pittsburgh have closed.
“It’s nice,“ he said. ”Our name's starting to get out there.”
Leo Rosenbauer, Jefferson Township manager, said many people from Butler County swim at SEBCO as well, as local pools have closed in recent years.
“The closest one (to SEBCO) is Alameda,” Rosenbauer said. “Freeport and Butler Memorial Park pools are both closed. There’s very limited access for people around here.”
Bauer said SEBCO had to close on Tuesday due to an accidental water loss, but re-opened on Wednesday.
He said that on hot days, SEBCO Pool hosts 250 to 400 people per day.
“Come on out and enjoy our beautiful pool and park and spend the day with us,” Bauer said.
