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WEIRTON -- City parks officials say despite the need for an overhaul of the vessel at Starvaggi Memorial Pool, it will be open this summer.
Parks Director Coty Shingle brought up the plans during Thursday's meeting of the Weirton Board of Parks and Recreation, saying he had been approached by a resident who claimed to have been told the pool would be closed this summer.
"That's totally false," Shingle said. "Our plan is to open."
Board members and Shingle have reported on multiple occasions in recent years the need to fully replace the vessel for the pool, which studies have shown is more than 30 years past its useful life.
Starvaggi Memorial Pool first opened in 1968; built and contributed to the city by Starvaggi Charities. Officials have discussed the possibility of tearing out the entire vessel, as well as portions of the deck surrounding it, and replacing it with a new vessel.
Board Chair Edwin J. Bowman asked the confidence of the staff in keeping the pool operational with the known water loss issues.
"The bottom line is this vessel is like rolling the dice," Bowman said.
Shingle has noted the pool regularly loses approximately 5,000 gallons of water per day, but said it would be much worse if not for the efforts of parks maintenance staff
"We've mitigated so much of the loss, I think we'll keep it manageable," Shingle said.
Board member Ronnie Jones, who previously worked for the Weirton Area Water Board, recalled the amount of water needed over the years to replenish the levels at the pool. Shingle said it is one of the biggest expenses for the parks system.
The pool holds approxiamtely 400,000 gallons of water, Shingle added.
In November, Ward 3 Councilman Fred Marsh proposed a resolution which would have set aside $1 million toward the renovation. The resolution, however, was voted down 3-4.
(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com, and followed via Twitter @CHowellWDT)