Committee members of the Portage Regional Endowment Fund at Community Foundation for the Alleghenies recently awarded funding to a project to maintain the pool at Crichton McCormick Park. The $5,800 grant well help ensure the availability and continued use of one of the park’s most popular summer features.

“It’s so important to have the support of the Portage Regional Endowments in order for us to continue opening our pool,” said Kathy Hough, chair of the Portage Area Joint Recreation Commission. “We have been in dire need of a new tarp.”

It’s so important to have the support of the Portage Regional Endowments in order for us to continue opening our pool.

Commission members have known the 20-year-old tarp was a problem and started looking for bids last fall. Getting a replacement, though, seemed to be more than the commission could cover on their own. The grant will cover about three-quarters of the cost, Hough said.

“For people who live here, this is usually a main form of recreation in the summer, and it’s one they don’t have to leave town to enjoy,” she said.

The funding was made possible by the Portage Regional Endowment Fund and Portage 10,000 Name Board Fund at CFA. Both rely on a neighbors-helping-neighbors concept, building on local donations and fundraising to benefit local projects and build community in Portage.

George Fetsko, a committee member of the Portage Regional Endowment Fund, said the group was proud to provide a boost to a valuable recreational asset.

“This park is the hub of the community,” he said. “It’s used by the vast majority of people in town and the township.”