Springdale Park and Pool: 61 Years Old, 1.6 Million Gallons of Water, 50 Picnic Acres

For most pool owners, preparing for the backyard pool for the summer means yanking off the pool cover, vaccuuming up the leaves, dumping in some chlorine and hoping for the best. The process typically takes a day.

It's a different story, however, at Springdale Park and Pool. Every year the pool is scraped, patched and painted before it's filled with water and ready for the summer. It takes about two months.

Springdale, at Romaine Creek Road and Highway 141, is a tradition in Fenton. The facility, and the pool itself, is 61 years old. And it can show its age. Workers have been busy for several weeks filling in cracks and smoothing out rough edges before the pool is completely repainted, a process that takes place every year.

The maintenance needs to be completed a couple of weeks before opening day (the Saturday before Memorial Day) since it takes that long to fill the pool with the 1.6 million gallons of spring water it takes to provide a place to dive and swim and frolic in the cool water.

Park manager Rich Waser oversees operation, which means worrying about pumps and patches and paint. He also oversees the 50-acre park that contains picnic pavilions, volleyball and horseshoe courts, a miniature golf course and the concession stand.

"There's plenty to do all right," he said last week as the pool prep was underway. "But we've done it before."

Springdale didn't look its best this week as the repairs and maintenance were underway. But Patch will be back when the pool is filled and ready for its 61st year as the area's best known watering hole.