SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — After going four years without a public pool in one of Lackawanna County’s biggest parks, Scranton City Council is now pushing for two.

In a meeting Thursday night, city council members voted on one of two pool layouts designed by a Philadelphia-based architectural firm and that layout includes not one but two pools to be built here in Nay Aug Park.

Lawmakers say there are benefits to the two pool design and they’re hopeful the mayor agrees.

When it comes to pools in Scranton’s Nay Aug Park, two are better than one.

Scranton City Council Members are looking to bring back swimming to the park with the addition of two new separate pools. One is a lap pool for adults, and another is designed for kids with a splash pad connected to it.

“I just see so many positives out of the layout. I think it will give parents the freedom to go around and people that are a little older and do their thing without worrying about hitting a child. And then it gives the children a designed area where it’s safe,” said The University of Scranton Student Charlie Valdez.

Councilmembers agree the two-pool option is the right choice partly because they can always have one open.

“The option with the two pools allows us to keep one of the pools open if the other needs to be closed and remediated,” said Scranton City Council President William King.

Now it’s up to Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti to sign off on it, but before she does, some council members want to see if adding an extra two lanes to the lap pool would be possible and how much it would cost.

“We want to know what the extra cost would be to add two extra lanes to make it an eight-lane lap pool so that maybe swim teams or swim clubs would maybe want to rent it early in the morning for practice,” King explained.

A bigger pool space would come in handy when local high school or college teams want to use it. There’s also a plan to rent it out when the public isn’t using it.
Local college students say they plan on taking full advantage of the pool once it’s finished.

“It’s a possibility for sure. Giving a little bit of a benefit to the community can never hurt,” said University of Scranton Student Sean Campbell.

“I’m a swimming guy I’ll probably be in there. If I’m going to vouge for something I gotta see it for myself you know. There’s nothing better than a first-hand experience,” said The University of Scranton Student Charlie Valdez.

Without the extra lanes added to the lap pool, construction is expected to exceed $6,000,000.

King says Scranton’s city clerk will be sending a letter to Mayor Cognetti shortly.