Kepler Pool will be closed this summer. But big changes are planned when it reopens
Kepler Pool, a “unique piece of the community fabric,” will remain closed this summer. But when it reopens in 2023, it will mark a new chapter in the pool’s story.
Since it was constructed in Bellefonte in the early 1970s, Kepler Pool has been used for a variety of purposes. The YMCA uses it in the summer for their daycare programs, the community uses it for recreation and the YMCA swim team uses it for training, members of the Nittany Valley Joint Recreation Authority said. The pool has been closed since September 2020 due to recurring mechanical issues and inspections.
“I grew up in downtown Bellefonte and we could walk to the pool and it was, you know, just a great thing. I have heard (moms) talk about taking their children to the pool after school ... and in the summertime and just what a great release of physical energy that is right for them and they come back refreshed,” Cindy Kunes, Walker Township’s representative of NVJRA, said.
The NVJRA owns the Kepler Pool facility and land, and manages the overall operations, but in season the YMCA of Centre County manages the pool operation. Member municipalities of the authority include Bellefonte borough, and Benner, Walker and Spring townships; each township appoints two representatives to the authority. Chris Haak, chair of NVJRA, said when you look at the four member municipalities, outdoor recreation facilities are lacking.
“There aren’t many options for outdoor recreational activities for children in this area at this time, so we definitely identified the need for families to be able to have (pool) facilities during the summer,” Haak said.
What will the pool improvements include?
Since it was built, Kepler Pool hasn’t had any major upgrades. Today there a number of mechanical issues and the pool features just don’t match the expectations of a lot of the swimmers, Haak said.
To refurbish and enhance Kepler Pool to meet “modern expectations,” the authority has long been in the process of applying for grants and other funding sources to start rehabilitation. At the end of 2021, the budget was about $667,000 — which came through grants and municipal support — and included refurbishing the main pool and the children’s wading pool, which has been closed for years.
But the bids the authority received for construction for the two pools, and mechanicals, were around $1.8 million. Costs have significantly increased since the grant was approved, Kunes said.
Though they were shocked by that large number, it allowed them to reassess what a true estimate should be. They took the numbers from multiple contractors and added an estimate on refurbishing the bath house, and decided they needed about $2.9 million for construction and engineering.
Previously, the budget would have fixed the problems, but it didn’t provide for any type of amenity and didn’t address the bathhouse. The scope of the project has expanded but, Haak said, if they’re going to invest the time and effort into this project, they want to include other modifications.
The project will have three phases. Phase one will include work on the main pool and mechanicals, phase two will cover the bathhouse and wading pool, and phase three will have other amenities. Proposed improvements and benefits include ADA access and chair lift, flume slide and/or aqua climbing wall, a children’s wading pool with splash zone, bathhouse and concession buildings, and replacing the underground recirculation plumbing system, filtration and sanitation systems.
They expect confirmation for the majority of the grants by early fall and if they’re successful in obtaining them, they hope to have phase one started by April 2023. The goal is to have part of a swimming season in 2023.
“There’s a lot of work we’re doing but we’re happy to contribute because we all feel this is a very worthwhile project,” Haak said. “We want to see it fit the modern mold and and we … don’t want to see anything in our community change, but we want to see it be sustained, and we want to see improvements to those facilities.”
Growing support for project
A nonprofit organization, Nittany Valley Recreation Inc., was recently started to complement the authority. It will assist the authority and support recreation activities in the Nittany Valley. It will assist with capital fundraising and give private citizens the ability to support the Kepler Pool project.
The authority is grateful for the overall community support and financial contributions so far; they received 12 letters of support to accompany a grant application to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the project.
One of those letters was from the Centre County government. During a recent commissioners meeting, Ray Stolinas, planning director for Centre County, said local parks and recreation facilities are important to Centre County and Nittany Valley residents, and the project is consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan.
Commissioner Steve Dershem said the project is incredibly important and hopes to see the community support it in different ways.
“It really does need a lot of work. The standard that it was built to and the standards that are prevalent today are a galaxy apart. So they really do need all the help and this is one part of it,” Dershem said. “But it’s really going to take a community effort to bring the project to fruition and it’s going to need the support of local government, it’s going to need the support of citizens and folks that are interested in the recreation of our kids, because it is really the only pool available in a multi township, borough area.”
For more information on the project or to get involved with the NVJRA, visit https://www.nvjra.org. To get involved with its nonprofit, email info.nvri@gmail.com.
