As much as we might love nearly 80 year old pools, most can agree that the Beaver municipal swimming pool was nearing its end.

By 2020, the Beaver pool could no longer be cost-effectively maintained and in a tough decision, the Beaver borough sadly had to close the pool.

This doesn’t mean doom and gloom for the town, however. Instead, the borough has something rather exciting planned for 2024: replacing the old pool site with an event center.

Now I’m sure there are some people who would much rather have a pool, but think of it this way: having a completely new type of community space after just a pool for 80 years is an opportunity for new experiences.

The event center—in the converted pool bathhouse—will allow the community to use the space for meetings, trainings, school board meetings, receptions, parties, and is all around a great opportunity to expand available community event space.

At a cost of $700,000, the bathhouse renovation project is considerably cheaper than the millions needed to replace the swimming pool. Plus, revenue from renting out the converted bathhouse will offset renovation costs over its lifetime.

When the borough was approached by their insurance company about the aging pool, they learned some pretty concerning information. The pool walls were deteriorating and the insurance company deemed it unsafe for the community.

Three options were open to the borough: tear out both the pool and the pool bathhouse, turn the bathhouse into a storage building, or convert the historic stone bathhouse into something else like a recreational space.

The pool itself was removed last year and its site filled and leveled while bathhouse plans were made.

Beaver Area High School principal Sean Snowden, who also is on borough council, suggested that the bathhouse building be turned into an event center.

“One of the things in Beaver that makes it unique is that we prioritize historic value and integrity,” said Principal Snowden when discussing the importance of keeping the historic pool bathhouse.

Mr. Snowden was certainly right about the importance of history in Beaver and (more specifically) the pool bathhouse. Originally built in the late 1930’s, the Beaver pool was a government sponsored project under FDR’s administration, who gave funding to many small towns to build recreational spaces. The borough was lucky enough to receive some of this funding from the government and built the pool without it costing a community a penny.

Renovation construction on this event center has been ongoing for nearly a year and is planned to conclude in early 2024. Changes to the building include new windows, new doorway openings (both front and back), but most importantly, the main structure and history of the building remains intact.

With that being said, that doesn’t mean there are any grand openings or events planned yet. The borough is expected to release a video with more information soon.

When asked if the community will enjoy the event center more than the pool, Mr. Snowden said, “I’m not really sure, but the community will enjoy the opportunity to rent out a space right here in Beaver instead of Brighton township.”