It didn’t get much fanfare and, considering where it’s at in the process if it comes to fruition, it was probably the correct thing. During the July 24 meeting of Bridgeport City Council a portion of $1.4 million in fund balance was allocated to something that will likely draw the public’s attention.

 

During that gathering of the city’s governing body, they approved escrowing $100,000 for the purposes of a new City of Bridgeport swimming pool. For those thinking that’s not nearly enough money for a new pool, they would be correct. And city officials know that.

 

“It’s just an escrow fund to start thinking about the replacement of the existing outdoor pool,” said Parks and Recreation Director Don Burton. “We just want everyone to understand that we’re just in the very early stages of planning to escrow funds for what may be coming. At the same time, we’re dealing with an old facility and if something happens you don’t want to get caught completely flat footed with no planning and no funding.”

 

Burton said the pool is decades old. Although still in good working order, he said there are things – such as the filtration system, the mechanical workings and other internal components – that are showing signs of age.

 

“To ease anyone’s concerns, they should know everything is working property. When you have a facility such as this that is getting older, you have a more difficult time fixing things and replacing things and the probability for things to go wrong increased with age,” said Burton. “Our biggest concern is probably the steel filtration tanks that are showing some signs of rust. Again, they’re fine, but that’s a very big concern.”

 

Burton said a future pool is likely a “multi-million dollar” project. He said escrowed funds would be used and that the city, if and when the decision is made to move forward, would also look at state and federal grants to assist.

 

So what would a new pool include and where would it be located?

 

“With it being early, everything is up for discussion. I would assume that based on the lack of city property available and the cost of acquiring land that the direction would be to rip out the old pool and put in a new one,” said Burton. “You have all the infrastructure already in place as well. That, again, is just an assumption at this point.”

 

Although it’s an assumption, it’s not breaking new ground. The City of Clarksburg’s new pool was constructed basically on the same exact site as its initial municipal pool. To complete the project, the pool was closed for an entire year.

 

“I would imagine the route of replacing in the same location would lead to the pool being closed for a year,” said Burton. “That’s just speculation, but these are things we’re thinking about because we have reasons we need to think about them.”

 

Right now, City Council agrees with Burton. In fact, there’s 100,000 reasons they agree with him at this point.

 

Editor's Note: Top and bottom photos, by www.benqueenphotography.com, show fun being had at the current city pool, while Parks and Recreation Director Don Burton is shown in the middle.