For the first time in four years, the William W. Scranton Pool Complex at Lackawanna State Park will be filled with the sounds of people swimming and splashing.
The swimming pool and splash pad at the park in North Abington Twp. opened to the public for the season Saturday with a new hard plaster base.
It’s the first time since 2021 the complex is open to the public. A shortage of lifeguards forced park officials to close it in the summer of 2022. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources closed the complex again in 2023 to replace the pool lining. Officials said in the 2023 closure announcement the lining would be replaced with an advanced plaster that was more durable.
Officials hoped to open the pool last year but installing the liner took longer than anticipated, prompting them to close the complex that year.
“We had to do a complete redo on the pool itself,” park Manager Lee Dillon said Tuesday. “It had a vinyl liner in it, but it failed.”
He said crews had to tear out the vinyl lining and put in the plaster lining. Dillon said the project took longer than anticipated because the liner crews initially installed wasn’t watertight.
“They had to go back and find ways to correct those issues,” he said.
Crews also had to retrofit the pool to ensure it could sustain a plaster lining, Dillon said. The cost for the new liner wasn’t available Monday.
The lifeguard station at Lackawanna State Park swimming pool in N. Abington Twp. Tuesday, May 227, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Tables are set up at the concession stand at Lackawanna State Park swimming pool in N. Abington Twp. Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Water attractions at the Lackawanna State Park swimming pool in N. Abington Twp. Tuesday, May 227, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The pool at Lackawanna State Park pictured Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Christine Lee/Staff Photo)
The splash pad at the pool complex at Lackawanna State Park pictured Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Christine Lee/Staff Photo)
Crews finished the liner installation in August and filled the pool, which holds up to 300,000 gallons of water, just before Labor Day.
The current complex opened in 2016, replacing the pool that had been at the park since 1972.
Dillon said he is confident the new lining will hold up this year based on information he received from the manufacturer and the fact that it made it through the winter and the first few days in operation without any problems.
“It’s holding up thus far very well,” he said.
Unlike in previous years, Dillon said the pool complex is fully staffed with 11 lifeguards, including a supervisor, hired for this year.
He said he is excited the new liner is in place and the complex is open. Dillon said about a half dozen people, all of whom were camping at the park, visited the complex Sunday. Nearly 50 people visited the pool Monday, Dillon said, most of whom played in the splash pad.
“It was a huge relief and excitement to be able to see people actually in it,” he said.
Several couples living the Abingtons who regularly walk in the park are happy the complex is open this year because it gives people at the park another amenity to enjoy.
Lea and Bill Chmil, who reside 2 miles from the park, are thrilled the public will be able to use the pool.
“I think it’s a wonderful facility,” Lea Chmil said.
The couple, whose daughter Lia O’Rourke was a lifeguard at the pool, said in the years it was closed they saw families pull up to the complex ready to swim only to find it closed.
“I felt sorry for the campers, especially with little kids who wanted to swim,” Lea Chmil said.
Clarks Green residents Phil Smiley and Tammy Fidati are looking forward to bringing their grandchildren to the pool complex this summer.
Fidati said it will be a great place for people to cool off.
The pool complex is open on weekends from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dillon anticipates the hours will expand to weekdays in mid-June. It will be in operation through Labor Day.
Entrance fees are $7 for regular admission, $6 for seniors and those arriving after 4 p.m., $4 for a park camper and free for children under 38 inches.
Information can be obtained by calling 570-945-3239, x4.