Paintsville pool expected to stay closed this summer

PAINTSVILLE, Ky. (WSAZ) - It’ll be another quiet summer at the Paintsville pool, which is expected to remain closed for the fourth year in a row.

The pool didn’t open in 2020 because of the pandemic. Then in 2021 it failed an inspection.

Mayor Bill Mike Runyon says they’d hoped to be able to open this year, with close to $1.5 million in bond money set aside to upgrade and refurbish it and add a new building, but he says the bids for the project have been closer to $2.5 to $3 million, out of their spending range.

The mayor says they’ve been told that’s due to supply chain issues and the price of materials going up.

Children are disappointed to learn the unfortunate streak will continue another summer.

“We were really hoping for it to be open,” 12-year-old Colten Lemaster said. “Where it’s summer, it’s supposed to be really hot. We used to go there every single day.”

“I feel like it’s really disappointing,” Mishelle Penix, who lives right across from the pool, said. “I miss it so badly.”

The mayor says they’re hoping by July they can get a new splash pad open at their recreation facility, and they’re hoping the pool will be able to open in the summer of 2024.

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