The Borough of Tamaqua held a public meeting to discuss the future of the Howard D. Buehler Memorial Swimming Pool.

Brent Boyer of Aquatic Facility Design made a presentation to the borough much like the one from earlier in March when the public was first introduced to the information.

“What’s really falling seems to be a result of the materials chosen,” Boyer said. “It’s unfortunately pretty well-known in swimming pool construction that certain materials don’t work.”

The same T-shaped design was revisited as the public favored it in March. A big decision will be whether to have one or two diving boards.

A second diving board would increase the cost by roughly $100,000 due to the necessity of more space.

Fixing the current pool is possible, but the longevity of it would be uncertain. Photos of deteriorating walls inside the pool were again shared. The borough has been patching the holes, but Boyer said that rebuilding the walls would cost almost as much as putting in a new pool.

“This is beyond what we would consider a patch situation,” Boyer said. “It’s around the entire perimeter of the pool; it’s a pretty big bad spot. You have to be careful and proceed and know that your days are numbered one way or the other. It’s a lot less of a cost (to reconstruct), but it’s still a big cost.

“The people of Tamaqua have to decide if you put almost $1 million into it the way it is, are you going to feel good the way you spent your money?”