07-04-2025
Scranton plans splash pad for defunct Pine Brook pool site
Scranton plans to replace a defunct swimming pool site on Capouse Avenue in the Pine Brook neighborhood with a splash pad and playground.
The city last year sought bids on the project but got sued by a resident who claimed the city skipped over the low bidder. In proceedings in that lawsuit, the city agreed to rebid the project.
Now, the city split the project into two parts at the 0.95-acre site at 1335 Capouse Ave. referred as 'Capouse Avenue Park.' The city had separate public notices published last month in The Times-Tribune seeking bids for 'Capouse Park Splash Pad Installation' and 'Capouse Avenue Park Renovations Sitework.' New features at the park site between Larch and New York streets will include a splash pad, playground, open-air shelter, lawn space and more, the city said Tuesday in an announcement of the bidding process.
'Reviving this park supports the ongoing rejuvenation of the entire Pine Brook neighborhood,' Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said in the announcement. 'The project creates a new destination for a neighborhood on the rise.'
The project's two components include:
Splash pad: Bids to install the splash pad are due by 10 a.m. on April 14. The vendor selected will be responsible for the installation of a Vortex brand splash pad and must be a Vortex-certified installer.
Site work: Bids to do overall site work are due by 10 a.m. on April 17. This will include other site preparation, demolition, infrastructure improvements, stormwater management, landscaping and amenities.
The vacant park property used to have a pool and bathhouse that were closed down over a decade ago and demolished and filled in 2021, when a total renovation of the site was envisioned in a 2021 Scranton Recreation Needs Assessment and Master Plan.
'With the assumption of a total renovation, the park would need new features and infrastructure' that could 'totally recreate the park' into a new asset, that plan said.
The city will use federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for the project.
A splash pad on Capouse Avenue likely won't be ready for the summer season, but the playground there might be finished by then, city Business Administrator Eileen Cipriani said Thursday.
The city has other pool projects underway in various stages, include a major revamp of the pool complex at Nay Aug Park, which also will not be completed in time for the 2025 summer season, she said.
At the March 25 meeting of Scranton City Council, council President Gerald Smurl said the newly constructed Weston Field outdoor pool and newly refurbished Connell Park pool both will be open for this summer season, as will the Weston Park outdoor pool and Weston Field's indoor pool.
The Novembrino Park splash pad also will get resurfaced and should be open for the summer, he said.
The summer swim season will unofficially begin on Saturday, May 24, of the Memorial Day weekend, with the opening of the Novembrino splash pad, the city previously announced.
Outdoor pools will open daily from noon to 6 p.m. at the end of the Scranton School District school year, on Saturday, June 14.
All outdoor facilities will close on Labor Day, Sept. 1.
The indoor pool at Weston Field is open year-round, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for adult swim and from 3 to 5:30 p.m. for the general public.
