ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown’s Irving Park is set to get a new pool in 2024, several years after its only swimming area was demolished and filled in.
Allentown officials held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday with representatives from construction companies that will complete the $2.8 million project.
- A $2.8 million project to build a new pool at Andre Reed Park in Allentown got underway Monday
- Officials held a groundbreaking event at the site of the new pool, where they ceremoniously tossed dirt
- Construction is set to finish in time for next summer’s swim season, officials said
Mandy Tolino, Allentown’s parks and recreation director, said crews will do “mostly earthwork” this year on the project site, in the southwest corner of the park.
Construction's due to start next spring and finish in time for the summer, she said.
“We’ll be taking the plunge before long here on the East Side,” Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said Monday.
He credited a large group of city officials, employees and construction workers, whose work “brought us to this exciting moment.”
“Even if you don't like swimming, it’ll have a spray-park feel on one section and a lap-swim feel on another. So, really, anyone could use the pool.”Mandy Tolino, Allentown parks and recreation director
Irving Park — now called Andre Reed Park — “is nestled in the heart of the East Side,” and the new pool will be “more than just a facility,” Tuerk said.
“This is going to be a focal point for our residents,” he said.
A pool for everyone
Tuerk jokingly said that Monday’s event was more of a “dirt-tossing” ceremony than a ground-breaking. Officials filled their shovels with dirt dumped on top of a paved lot, where the park’s old pool was filled in.
That pool was built in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration and was no longer “up to code,” Tolino said. The new pool will be built next to the old one.
The project is being primarily financed by the city, with help from federal pandemic-relief funds and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Tolino said.
“This should be an indication the city has not forgotten about the East Side, that we care deeply about the needs of our residents across the city.”Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk
The $2.8 million project includes construction of a “hybrid pool,” as well as a new pool house, she said.
“Even if you don't like swimming, it’ll have a spray-park feel on one section and a lap-swim feel on another,” Tolino said. “So, really, anyone could use the pool.”
The pool will have a capacity of more than 280 people, she said.
Investing in the East Side
The new pool is a “symbol of [the city’s] ongoing commitment to making investments in the East Side,” Tuerk said.
“It’s often said that the city forgets about the East Side,” the mayor said. “This should be an indication the city has not forgotten about the East Side, that we care deeply about the needs of our residents across the city.”
“It’s going to be a big thing for the community here.”East Side resident Tino Babayan
Tino Babayan, an East Side resident who ran for City Council this year, said the new pool will “bring a lot of kids back” to the park and “keep the kids off the streets.”
“We have nothing here on the East Side; there’s nothing going on on the East Side,” Babayan said.
But the new pool is “a good start,” he said.
“It’s going to help the neighborhood," Babayan said. "There’s something for them to do here. They don’t have to drive a couple miles down the road to go swim. They can go right here.
“It’s going to be a big thing for the community here,” he said.
