Big improvements are in store for the City of Tonawanda’s public pool, thanks to $850,000 in federal funding.
It will be the first time federal funding is used for the 70-year-old Kohler Pool.
The pool has major problems with leaking and loses about half a foot of water every evening during the summer but still gets around 300 swimmers on peak summer days.
About $4.5 million in total funding will be needed to fully overhaul the facility, but the funds are at least a starting point, Congressman Tim Kennedy said.
“Without this funding, there was no guarantee that this pool would remain open into the future," he said. So this, it stabilizes and ensures that a full rehab will be able to happen. Our goal and our hope is to do a full reconstruction to last even longer.”
In addition to a place to relax in summer heat, the pool is an asset to make sure residents have the skills to stay safe in the water, City of Tonawanda Mayor Bill Strassburg said.
“We are surrounded by so much water in this area, whether it’s Ellicott Creek or the canal, or the Niagara River," he said. "And to have a place where young kids can come and learn to swim, where God forbid, if they did fall into that water, that they would have the tools to get to shore and not have a tragedy on our hands.”
Without funding assistance, the pool would likely have to close in a couple of years, Strassburg added. Improvements will start with essential work, including pipe replacements and new bathrooms.
