MORGANTOWN — Call it a changing of the (life)guard.
After 65 years or so as a Morgantown summer staple, BOPARC’s Marilla Pool is just about ready to head off into retirement — or wherever demolished pools go.
City park pool season will close at the end of the public session on Aug. 11.
Demolition of the old Marilla Pool is expected to be underway by early September.
As for its replacement, the $14.2 million aquatic complex under construction in upper Marilla, BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles said things are going swimmingly.
“The original completion date was at the beginning of December for the project as a whole, but we are slightly ahead of schedule. So, if that holds, it could be mid-fall,” Wiles said.
In addition to a whole lot of concrete, Wiles said contractor March-Westin is finishing up interior work on both buildings on site — the smaller admissions building and the pool service building, which will include the guard room, mechanical room, storage and changing rooms on the ground floor.
Work on the slides at the new pool complex is expected to begin in a couple weeks.
Looking toward the post-pool future of lower Marilla Park, Morgantown City Council passed a reimbursement resolution in May indicating the city’s intent to issue up to $11 million in lease revenue bonds through the Morgantown Building Commission for a series of improvements.
According to the resolution, those improvements will include a new bike/skate park, new tennis, pickleball and basketball courts, a recreational green space, new restrooms, parking and shelter facilities and upgrades to the Marilla Center.
Wiles previously said early spring 2025 was the target to begin work in lower Marilla Park.
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