Paducah meets funding goal for pool

  • Paducah meets funding goal for pool
    Paducah meets funding goal for pool
  • POOL PROSPECTS Champions of the Paducah pool have raised enough money to build a new pool, and the plan is for it to open in Summer of 2025. | COURTESY PHOTOS
    POOL PROSPECTS Champions of the Paducah pool have raised enough money to build a new pool, and the plan is for it to open in Summer of 2025. | COURTESY PHOTOS
  • POOL’S PAST Paducah had to shut its municipal swimming pool down in 2019 when a leak appeared to indicate voids beneath the concrete. A fund-raising campaign for a new pool began in 2021. | COURTESY PHOTOS
    POOL’S PAST Paducah had to shut its municipal swimming pool down in 2019 when a leak appeared to indicate voids beneath the concrete. A fund-raising campaign for a new pool began in 2021. | COURTESY PHOTOS

    CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY, PLANNED OPENING SUMMER ’25

    In 2018 the City of Paducah discovered that its municipal pool had a huge water leak underneath, and staff suspected there might be voids near the drain. The cost to fix the pool was going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. and the city did not have the financial resources to repair and reopen the pool or to build a new one. So the arid West Texas town has been without a public swimming pool for six years.

    But the small community, with a little over one thousand people, would not be deterred.

    A pool committee was formed, and they dove into fundraising. For several years, bake sales, hamburger suppers and a variety of events were held to raise funds. A community thermometer sign with a goal of $395,000 was created and displayed prominently.

    Since then, according to city clerk Nikki Baker, a few key events helped the city’s dream come true, and as of last week the $395,000 needed has been raised. “We’ve had some help from some foundations which we can’t name,” she said. “A couple of years ago, one foundation gave us $80,000.”

    Then another miracle of sorts came to the city, when they connected with the pool contractor for the new Tahoka (Texas) city pool, Blue Tropical Pools of Lubbock. The firm offered a bid the Paducah pool that came in significantly under previous bids, and that brought Paducah a lot closer to its goal. The final piece, according to Baker, was that recently another foundation awarded $100,000 for the initiative, pushing the project across its goal.

    The city wasted no time in breaking ground.

    “Work began this past weekend,” Baker said. “We are all still amazed.”

    Baker said that an additional $100,000 is still needed to cover costs of fencing, electricity, desk security and seating-area shades. “We are going for a $50,000 grant for half of that from the Paducah EDC and for the rest, we’ll be sending out letters to the larger donors to see if they can give one last time,” she said.

    “It is going to be so good for our young people,” Baker said, “I grew up here and came back, and I remember how important the pool was for a young person.” She noted that all of the officers of the pool committee also grew up in Paducah.

    “There are so many people to thank for all of the hard work,” Baker said, “Mona Gregory, our president of the pool committee, was the one who kept us going.”

    The officers of the pool committee are: Mona Gregory, president, Nikki Baker, vice-president, Cindy Melton, secretary and Kayla Box, treasurer.

    The Texas Spur e-Edition