By Sheri Monk

The Leader and District Make a Splash Fund received a $50,000 cash infusion from Sandhills Credit Union last week.
To date, a total of $265,000 has been committed – the committee wants to raise $700.000.
“The basin is cracked. We had it sandblasted and painted five years ago and it helped prolong the life a little bit, but now last year, it had that problem again,” explained Jackie Mertin, speaking on behalf of the committee.
The new pool may be bigger than the existing facility and will feature a beach entrance which allows swimmers or waders to walk right in the water without having to use a ladder and also ensures it is wheelchair accessible. A diving board will be installed and possibly, a waterslide at a later date. There will also be a play portion of the pool and a sitting portion within the play pool.
Individual sponsorship tiers have been created – $5,000 for the gold level, $3,500 for silver and $2,500 for bronze and donor names will be displayed on a sponsorship plaque. Additionally, Sandhills Credit Union is willing to lend to individuals or businesses who wish to use the money to donate to the case. All normal lending criteria will apply.
“We are hoping that we can start construction this fall. We’ll have the old pool dug out after it closes. The company comes out here and they start doing the groundwork and start setting everything up and then once winter comes, they stop and in spring they come back and he said they always have a target date of July 1,” said Mertin, adding the opening is slated for July 1, 2011.