City will operate Prospect in 2023

One-year commitment expected to provide ‘relief’ to CBRC staff

The city is taking full responsibility for operation of troubled Prospect Pool from the Central Blair Recreation and Park Commission, so that it can do everything possible to make the facility a success next summer.

This will be a test to determine how much and in what ways to invest in the property after that.

The one-year commitment will provide "relief" to the staff of the commission, which is a council of governments comprising the city, Logan Township and the Altoona Area School District, as the commission has struggled to staff the pool, control behavior there, draw patrons and construct a budget that accounts for operational losses, according to commission school district representative Kelly Irwin Adams.

Marketing the facility to the max, encouraging business sponsorships, improving the concession menu, providing armed security "from day one," offering longer hours and season passes, hosting birthday parties, bringing older people to mix with younger ones and hiring enough lifeguards using higher pay and scholarships will show whether the pool can work in that neighborhood, and in turn whether the city should replace the pool -- or try something different there, according to City Council member Ron Beatty and Mayor Matt Pacifico, a commission member.

Everyone who has spoken to him about Prospect wants a pool to remain on the property, according to Beatty, who recently faulted the commission for not making a good-faith effort to succeed at Prospect this year.

But if all-out effort next year doesn't draw enough staff, or behavior problems ruin patrons' enjoyment or attendance is minimal, it makes no sense to invest

$5 million for the high-end replacement that is one of the options proposed by a consultant, according to Beatty and Pacifico.

"(Instead) we'll build something that will meet the demand that is there," Pacifico said.

It's too early to say what that other option might be, if an all-out effort belly-flops, according to Pacifico.

The property, however, must remain recreational, Pacifico said.

One of the marketing tactics that should help is a gala opening day, with food trucks, a disc jockey, a band and lots of publicity -- which should include signs on major thoroughfares, Beatty said.

"A community party," he said.

School district representative Dave Francis agreed with Beatty's assessment of last summer's effort by the commission.

"We were not aggressive enough," Francis said. "I think we dropped the ball."

But Logan Township representative Ed Frontino disagreed.

"The staff and management of CBRC did not sabotage the operation," he wrote in a letter to the commission, referencing a statement made at a City Council meeting by Beatty. "If not for the extraordinary efforts of the CBRC executive director and staff, the pool would never have opened this past summer."

Those extraordinary efforts were required because of issues at the pool that "have been ongoing and steadily getting worse," Frontino wrote.

Moreover, city representatives on the board have backed collective decisions relating to Prospect operations that other council members have criticized, according to Frontino.

"Everybody is entitled to their opinion," Beatty said after the letter was read.

Still, Frontino supports the city's plan to take over operations at Prospect next year.

It will mean the city needs to take charge of cleaning, sealing, painting, getting the pumps and filters in working order, filling the pool, treating the water, recruiting and hiring staff, selling tickets, booking parties and obtaining security, Frontino wrote.

"If it succeeds, it is a win for everyone," he wrote. "The city, because the pool is open, and CBRC, because the scarce precious resources of time and money can be allocated to other programs that are already proven successes."

City officials previously considered making a decision on what to do about the pool based on what has already happened there, but the planned all-out effort next summer will mitigate the risk of building something that no one will use, Beatty said.

The school district can help ensure the pool has enough lifeguards by encouraging students who take lifesaving courses and members of the swim teams to consider working there, according to district representative Phil Riccio.

The city is hoping to get help also by forming a Prospect Pool committee, as suggested by Pacifico at a City Council meeting this week.

He asked each council member to suggest someone for the committee, which could help provide ideas for betterment of the current operation and for what kind of facility ought to replace it eventually.

It's an effort to tap into community resources, Pacifico said.

"A lot of people in the community care deeply," he said.

Because it will be taking over responsibility for Prospect, the city will withdraw the amount the commission had tentatively budgeted for Prospect from its contribution to the commission.

The city provides 80 to 85 percent of the commission's budget annually, Pacifico said.

It's not certain what the city's costs will be to run the pool next year, but there is money available if necessary from the $39 million that Altoona has received from the American Rescue Plan Act, officials said.

"We need to see if the pool is viable," said Beatty, adding that it will be a part of an overall assessment and possible reconfiguration of recreation facilities throughout Altoona.

Such an assessment makes sense, given that most of the facilities were designed when there were as many as 80,000 residents in the city, Beatty said. There are now about 43,000.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.