Mifflinburg borough begins two-year review of aging pool's future

Mifflinburg families have at least two more summers with the borough pool, but the 67-year-old North Fifth Street facility is now on a two-year clock that will help decide whether it survives, gets rebuilt or gives way to something smaller.

Mifflinburg Borough Council unanimously approved a plan to gather data through 2027 before making a long-term call on the pool’s future. Councilwoman Linda Lewis said the point is to collect enough information to decide how much the community wants and needs the pool, rather than leaning on anecdotes alone. For parents, children and summer programs that center on Mifflinburg Community Park, that means the borough is keeping the pool open for now while it measures whether the asset still justifies the cost of maintaining it.

The stakes are high because the pool is not a routine upkeep item. Built in 1959, it has already outlived the life cycle of many municipal recreation facilities. In February 2024, the borough hired Counsilman-Hunsaker to examine the pool’s condition and study renovation and replacement options. That work looked at annual operating expenses and revenue, and it put the price of major changes in stark terms: about $5.3 million to renovate the pool, about $8.6 million to build a new one, and about $1.8 million to remove it and replace it with a smaller splash park.

The borough has been wrestling with the issue for years. In July 2022, talk that the pool might not open prompted a pool committee and meetings at the borough office. The Mifflinburg Kiwanis Club stepped in to help keep the facility alive, paying for six lifeguards to become certified at $365 each and reimbursing children’s swim lessons if they completed eight of ten classes, making them effectively free for families.

Mifflinburg is still backing the pool operationally. In February 2026, council approved an estimated $68,000 management contract with the Greater Susquehanna Valley YMCA for the 2026 season, up $6,000 from the prior year’s $62,000 agreement. The borough says the pool will open May 30, 2026 at noon and close August 16, 2026. General admission is set at $3, with season passes ranging from $25 for borough-resident youth to $150 for a borough-resident family pass.

The review now gives residents a clear benchmark to watch: whether usage, operating costs and revenue over the next two summers show enough demand to justify a major investment. If they do not, council will have the numbers to support a harder choice about one of Mifflinburg’s most visible summer amenities.