Having taken over operation of Prospect Pool from the Central Blair Recreation and Park Commission recently, the city has been making preparations to open the facility on the Saturday before Memorial Day.

It has been organizing a volunteer workday, setting up a web page, preparing to hire employees, soliciting donations, figuring out a logo, establishing prices, developing policies and procedures and working on the grounds.

“We’re making progress,” said City Councilman Ron Beatty, a member of a pool subcommittee, at a council meeting Monday.

The volunteer workday will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 6, according to Mayor Matt Pacifico.

Public Works Director Nate Kissell is developing a work list for the volunteers, Pacifico said.

They will be “sprucing up things” — including pulling weeds and touching up paint, the mayor said. A logo will be painted in the front, he said. And the concession stand will be cleaned, Beatty said.

No skills are needed, although the Blair-Bedford Central Labor Council plans to send a group of carpenters, Beatty said.

At least 15 have signed up already, according to Pacifico.

They have included people who “went to the pool when they were kids,” Beatty said.

Others interested should RSVP to Bonnie Delozier in the mayor’s office at bdelozier@altoonapa.gov by Thursday, May 4, Pacifico said.

The web page will go live Wednesday, according to City Manager Omar Strohm.

It will provide a means for users to apply for jobs at the pool.

Those include manager, security, concessions, cashier, customer service and maintenance.

Seven lifeguards who have worked at Prospect previously are willing to work again this summer, and five others have been recruited through the Altoona Area High School, for a total of 12, which should suffice for the season, according to Beatty.

The Blair Regional YMCA will administer the lifeguard program for Prospect and will certify all 12 at the high school pool, Beatty said.

Lifeguard has been a difficult position for area pools to fill in recent times.

The web page will provide a link for donations, according to Strohm.

Some area businesses have already “stepped up,” as have people who used to swim at Prospect when they were young, Beatty said.

Donations will be handled by the Central Pennsylvania Community Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) organization, so they’ll be tax-deductible, Strohmn said.

The website will include a pool logo, although the design hasn’t been decided upon from among competing entries drawn by students, Strohm said.

Pool prices will be lower this summer than they were last year, officials said.

Season passes will cost $60 for an individual; $100 for a family of two; $125 for a family of three; and $150 for a family of four or more.

Day passes will be free for patrons under 3; $5 for anyone else; and $4 for the evening.

There will be senior swim hours.

The city plans to provide Wi-Fi, so payments can be made with credit cards, Strohm said.

The city plans to provide photo-IDs for employees and patrons, which will need to be “clipped to their person(s),” Strohm said.

That will ensure that management knows who is at the facility, while also preventing the “sharing” of passes, officials said.

A hard copy of the policies and security rules will be distributed to patrons the first time they come, Strohm said.

There have been security issues in recent years.

Workers will remove the diving boards to limit liability and avoid facilitating “potential carrying on,” Strohm said.

Workers recently power washed the pool and will begin concrete repairs Thursday, said Kissell.

After a couple of weeks to let the patches cure, workers will paint the pool, Kissell said.

Workers have turned the water on in the filtration room and are preparing the buildings one by one, according to Kissell.

An engineering firm has examined the party deck and declared it’s OK to use, Kissell said.