Middleburgh Pool Rehab Planned for Next Summer

MIDDLEBURGH - A major rehab of the Middleburgh community pool is tentatively scheduled to begin next August. 

The village is quickly moving toward the historic and much needed rehabilitation of the community pool.

At their October meeting, Mayor Tim Knight told village board members that the New York SWIMS grant contract has been executed and the project is ready to move forward.

"I'm excited for the pool project to kick-off. That's going to be a huge project for the Village of Middleburgh," Mayor Knight said.

In July, officials announced that the village has been awarded up to $1.2 million in NY SWIMS grant funds to make improvements to the pool. The project will total $1.5 million, including a 20 percent local match.

To help meet that local match, the village board accepted $15,696 in donations last week, including $15,000 from the Fam Fund. The Joint Recreation Commission has also been collecting local donations.

The village will have three years to complete the project. The preliminary project timeline is to do engineering over winter 2026-27, then open the project up to bidding in the winter/spring 2027, begin construction mid to late August 2027 so that the pool is not closed an entire season, and complete construction by early June 2028. This schedule is subject to change. 

There will be in-kind work completed by the village clerk's Office and DPW as well to offset the local cost, Mayor Knight said.

In order to move toward the 20 percent match, village officials established a “Village Pool Project” checking account for the NY SWIMS Project. Board members approved a motion to transfer $37,000 from “Pool Repair Fund” and $43,000 from “JRC Donations Account” to the new account.

In a joint effort between the village board and the Joint Recreation Commission, a Pool Revitalization Committee was established in 2024 to begin identifying areas for renovation for the pool that has served generations of Middleburgh residents by teaching youngsters to swim and offering a free, safe space for youth during the summertime.

The Pool Revitalization Committee – working in concert with both Delaware Engineering and the Village Department of Public Works – pulled together a $1.5 million improvement plan that would expand the bath house and incorporate a concession stand, improve accessibility in the pool itself and throughout the facilities, upgrade mechanics, replace the pool deck, and build a new pavilion. Other additions and upgrades at the pool may include: a handrail, a relining and retiling of the pool, a new guard chair, and dressing rooms.

The pool is structurally fine, officials said.

Endorsed unanimously by the Board of Trustees, the Village committed to the $300,000 local share for this project if awarded NY SWIMS funds in September 2025. Delaware Engineering wrote the grant application at no charge to the Village of Middleburgh. Improving the Community Pool was identified as the top priority of village residents in a grants survey conducted last spring.