The condition of a roof on a pavilion at the South Ward Playground has Tom Schlorf concerned.

“It’s about to cave in and I’d like to get it fixed before it caves in,” Schlorf, a member of the playground association, told Tamaqua Borough council members Tuesday evening.

The problem, however, is that the association can only put about $2,000 toward repairs. Materials alone will cost about $3,800, he said.

Schlorf asked the borough for its help, since it owns and insures the pavilion.

“I was up on it to take a chimney down on Saturday and I almost fell through it,” he said.

Given the seriousness of the situation, Council President Brian Connely suggested switching some of its Community Development Block Grant funds from a playground fencing project to the roof repairs.

“See if we can shift some money out of the CDBG project coming up so we can get it now and take care of it,” Connely suggested to Borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt.

Councilman Ron Bowman said the roof had been in bad shape for some time.

Schlorf said he did not have an estimate on how much it would cost for a contractor to install the roof. Council guessed that it would double the project’s cost to about $8,000.

“We’ll work as soon as we can and see what we can do,” Connely told Schlorf. “And if we can’t we will figure out something else.”

Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee will study the matter. Meanwhile, Steigerwalt will ask county CDBG officials whether a funding shift is permissible.