Another aging Centre County pool in need of repairs won’t open this summer. How to help
Following an early closure last year, the Penns Valley area’s only public pool has announced that it will not open this summer as it is in need of some major repairs.
The Millheim Pool, located in the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Park at 120 Park Entrance Road, announced the temporary closure earlier this month on its Facebook page. A leak at the end of last season caused “substantial water loss,” the post read, and could cause greater damage if the pool were to be filled.
The specific location of the leak has yet to be determined, although Penns Valley Parks and Recreation Association member Michelle Johnson theorized that it could be in a spot that would require a great deal of effort to fix.
“Where we believe (the leak) is located is under the concrete that surrounds the pool itself, which means lifting the sections one-by-one until we can find the leak, repair it and repair the concrete,” Johnson wrote in an email. “By closing this year for the entire season, we want to take our time and do it right, and maybe fix a few other things that need to be repaired/upgraded.”
Johnson said that while the association has been “band-aiding and bubble-gumming” the pool’s issues for a number of years, it has now reached a point where a large-scale fix is needed. The cost of that fix has yet to be determined, and the nonprofit is seeking funding sources.
Some of the other upgrades needed at the pool include a new liner and filtration system.
Having opened 55 years ago in 1970, the aging pool is owned by the Millheim Lions Club and operated by a small group of volunteers from the PVPRA.
Fundraisers are held each year to pay for the pool’s necessities, such as water treatment chemicals, concessions and the the pool’s employees, although there is no reserve cash available to pay for repairs. Most of the money brought in through the pool’s memberships and provided donations also contribute to those necessities.
According to the Facebook post, the PVPRA and Lions Club have attempted to secure grants for pool repairs in years past, with little success. Now, Johnson hopes that the surrounding community will play an important role in contributing to the fix.
“People, for the most part, have expressed their disappointment at our closure for the season,” Johnson wrote in an email to the CDT. “There have been a lot of suggestions of course, with very few stepping up though. Our hope is that people will step up who may have professional experience such as concrete repair, excavation, electrical, plumbing, etc. We have had someone offer their excavating capabilities when we’re ready — that’s what we need.”
In the past, community members have contributed toward the pool and the park surrounding it. A local Eagle Scout built an American Disabilities Act-accessible, concreted pavilion in the park last year, Johnson noted.
That pavilion — along with the many others on the pool’s property — will remain open for rental this summer, with the PVPRA honoring already-reserved pavilion rentals as well. The restroom facilities at the pool will also remain open.
With the Millheim Pool being closed this summer, only three of Centre County’s five public pools are expected to be open — the Mountain Top Area Swimming Pool in Snow Shoe and Centre Region Parks and Recreation’s Park Forest Community Pool in Patton Township and William L. Welch Community Pool in State College.
Kepler Pool, located in Governor’s Park in Spring Township, is also expected to be closed for another summer. The pool last operated in 2020, and has remained closed due to a number of funding issues surrounding its renovation.
Last May, the Nittany Valley Joint Recreation Authority, the all-volunteer group that organizes the pool renovations, told the CDT that the pool could open in 2026, depending on a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant they applied for. The NJVRA did not respond to a request for an update on the process.
The Bellefonte area pool’s yearslong closure and uncertain future is a fate that Johnson hopes won’t happen in Millheim.
“The pool is an aging facility at 50+ years old and we want to see it continue for 50+ more,” Johnson wrote. “A partial feasibility study was done last year, where we discovered that the bones of the pool are, in a word, amazing. So we now know that it has the potential to be here for a multitude of years, it just needs to be upgraded. ... It’s a labor of love, albeit a frustrating one.”
More updates on the Millheim Pool and its repairs will be made available on its Facebook page. Those looking for more information on how to help can do so by emailing millheimpool@gmail.com.