The Lansing City Council has okayed the funding of construction documents that will allow efforts to save the Moores Park Pool to continue.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 granted Lansing $3.4 million for parks, but the Moores Park Pool wasn’t initially included in the city’s plan for spending that money.
The century-old pool was designed by Lansing engineer Wesley Bintz. Only a few of the 150 pools he designed around the country remain. Lansing’s is on the National Register of Historic Places.
It’s been closed since 2019, needing up to $5 million in repairs.
Dale Schrader is a board member of Friends of Moores Park Pool. He says the decision to carve out $118,000 from that ARPA money will pay for badly needed construction documents. He calls the vote the first “baby step” in the process.
“A lot of people felt without this, the cause was pretty much dead. It was just over,” Schrader said.
While waiting for those documents, Shrader expects fundraising for the pool to begin in earnest.
“It’ll help our fundraising. It will also help obtaining large grants, because they want to see that you’re serious, and when you’ve got these construction documents in your hand that shows that you’re serious, it’s not just a pipe dream.”
The pool’s 100th anniversary is in August.
