MANNINGTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — The City of Mannington plans to make improvements to its community pool in Hough Park.
The upgrades will include a splash pad for kids, a new bathhouse, a new pump system and a handicap-accessible junior Olympic-sized pool.
The city fundraised nearly $800,000 and got a $1 million match-up from an LWCF Grant for the renovations. Mayor Lora Michael was excited about the amount they raised through just community donations.
“I never had a doubt that the people in Mannington, we stand up and we help each other and if there’s a project that needs funded or we need help with the folks in this community are awesome,” Michael said.
Lenny Stafford, the Mannington Park Board president, said the original pool was built back in 1929 by Mannington residents themselves. Over the years, it got too bad to improve with just patchwork so the board and Mayor Michael began plans for an entirely new pool in December of 2021.
“This pool was actually old when I was a kid, and I’m old,” Stafford joked. “All through my childhood, I spent my time in this pool every summer, everybody did. It was the main gathering spot for kids in Mannington and it will be something, now, for years and years to come. It’ll be the spot in the summertime.”
The city hopes to break ground on the renovations in October and have it finished in time for a grand opening in May 2023.