Starkville public pool will undergo repairs to remain open another summer

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The City of Starkville’s public pool is drowning in problems that could drain the city’s recreation budget.

The pool at Moncrief Park is around 70 years old and leaking badly.

The Board of Aldermen has been given three options: a full overhaul of the pool and surrounding building, patching the leak to get through at least the upcoming season or shutting the pool down.

For now, the decision is to do the temporary repairs and have the pool open for the Summer.

City leaders also saw a shift in the recreation habits of city residents.

So, they are reaching out to the community for feedback about Moncrief Pool’s long-term future.

“Yes, it’ll be a decision that I think is a community decision, and we’ll do our best to see if we can reach out to the community and hear from them about it. Again times change. I grew up swimming. Swimming used to be a big thing, but it has gradually become less so, I think, community-wide. I’ll put it that way. Because, again, splash pads, and baseball, people are changing how they do their recreation. We’ve now gone to a year ’round school which changes the dynamics of having, you know, basically three months of playing in the pool,” said Mayor Lynn Spruill.

The cost of overhauling the pool and pool house is estimated to be between $400,000 and $500,000.

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