The Lansford Pool can be renovated and reopened, using the existing pool shell.

That was the message from a contractor hired by the borough to map out a renovation of the 70-year-old facility.Brent Boyer of Aquatic Facility Design addressed the borough's parks and recreation board, as well as about 30 pool supporters, during a public meeting Tuesday night.He presented designs that would address the leaks that led to the pool being closed last summer, and add resort-style features. Boyer said the renovations would make the Lansford Pool a destination for people from surrounding communities."You're going to have a lot of people who didn't come before, they're going to stay a lot longer, and they're going to want to come back. It's a pretty radical change, you have a lot more features. You add so many more uses."His firm is putting together a feasibility study so that the board can seek grants and donations to fund the project. Most importantly, the renovation would fix the existing pool leaks rather than building a new one.Boyer said that the underground pipes connecting the pool to its filtration system, coupled with cracks in the pool itself, are what caused the leaks.It would be replaced with a modern system which is integrated into the top of the pool walls, and relies on a lot less underground piping."The piping would be completely replaced - and by replaced I mean completely eliminated," he said. "Right now you have pipe all around the pool coming in and out of the tops and sides of the pool."By using the existing pool shell, Boyer said the project can be completed for around $500,000.The proposals also contained a lot more than just a fix for the plumbing. Boyer and his design staff are proposing to add amenities that are more commonly found at resorts than public pools. A new wading pool would be surrounded by a submerged patio where parents could watch their kids while cooling their feet in the water.Renderings showed triangular sun sails that would create shaded areas in the pool on hot summer days. They also included possible add-ons like floating animals and a rock climbing wall that would hang over the diving well."Some of these are resort-style features, but they don't really cost that much, they're concrete and tile," Boyer said.Council still needs to vote on the proposal, and Councilwoman Rose Mary Cannon pointed out that some members still need to be convinced of the need for the project.Meanwhile, the nonprofit Friends of the Lansford Pool continue to raise money for the pool. They are holding a soup sale between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday at the Coaldale Complex.Nathan Halenar, an officer with the Friends' group, said that Boyer's feasibility study will help his members to raise money from large donors who want to see a design before they contribute funding to the project."They shouldn't think of it as a donation, they should think of it as an investment," Cannon said.