Regional recreation authority asks Bellefonte, neighboring municipalities to help close $400,000 Kepler Pool funding gap

At a Bellefonte Borough Council work session, the Nittany Valley Joint Recreation Authority asked Bellefonte and neighboring municipalities to help close an estimated $400,000 funding gap for phase one of the Kepler Pool reconstruction.

The authority said the overall cost of phase one is roughly $3 million and that it has secured nearly $1.1 million in grant-funded match so far. “You can see that we have nearly a $400,000 funding gap,” Nittany Valley Joint Recreation Authority Chair Mike Musser said, describing the authority’s request for municipal help to cover the shortfall.

Kepler Pool, built in the early 1970s, was taken offline at the end of the 2020 swimming season because of structural problems and water leaks. The authority said it has been pursuing grant funding since about 2016 and that a primary state-then-federal review of a recent grant application took place in 2023. The authority described the grants it is pursuing as cost-reimbursement awards, meaning vendors are paid up front and the authority later requests reimbursement from state and federal sources.

That reimbursement model, the authority said, increases near-term cash needs. Musser and other authority…