Brentwood leaders are keeping their fingers crossed for a mild winter in hopes that the borough pool can open for the 2020 season.
Phase II of a nearly $3.3 million pool renovation project that includes a zero-depth entry, large slide, tropical-themed spray features, lighting, a new bathhouse with restrooms and changing areas and more green space is getting off to a later start than planned.
Phase II construction is expected to begin in September. Contractors are required to finish the work by October 2020, but local leaders are hoping for an earlier completion so the pool can be open for at least part of next summer.
“You never know, it could be a mild winter and the contractors could get it done quickly,” borough Manager George Zboyovsky said. “It’s going to be dependent on the spring. If we get a wet winter, yeah, the pool’s probably not going to open. But if it’s dry, then it probably will.”
Zboyovsky said he’s pulling for a July 4 opening. But the weather will tell.
The project delay was due in part to leaders waiting on a final grant agreement with the Land and Water Conservation Fund administered by the U.S. National Parks Service, which provided $795,000 for the project. In all, the borough received about $1 million in grants to offset costs, Zboyovsky said.
Also contributing to the delay, Zboyovsky said, was a recommendation from the project’s engineers, architects and construction manager to put off seeking bids for a couple of months while the Pittsburgh construction market was flooded with projects. Officials were concerned the cost would be inflated amid the rush.
Borough council on Aug. 26 voted unanimously to award a bid to Yarborough Development Inc. for $3.26 million. That includes the spray features and lighting in the pool that will allow for later hours and “Dive-In Movie nights.” Council members opted to make those two additions now instead of adding them later, Zboyovsky said.
The project price is about 15% higher than the engineers and architects’ estimate of $2.75 million and about 10% higher than Zboyovsky’s budgeted allotment of $3 million.
This summer, from June to July, Phase I of the project was completed with the demolition of the existing bathhouse and Civic Center decking. That project, costing about $80,000, made way for Phase II.
As part of the overall project, the borough is adding an ADA-accessible parking lot next to the Civic Center.
All of this will be icing on the cake for a park that’s undergone renovations for much of the past decade.
“It’s going to be the exclamation point on the last eight years of park renovations,” Zboyovsky said. “Community pools, people still love them.”
