North Mankato pool repairs unavoidable, will affect 2026 season

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - More information is coming out about North Mankato’s Spring Lake Park Swim Facility (pool) and its looming repairs.

The biggest issue is the pool’s liner and the ground underneath.

Last year’s floods saw groundwater seep under the liner and now the pool is covered in tears and holes. The ground underneath the pool is uneven, where it is typically flat and smooth.

That has led to sand coming into the pool and nails in the liner have even come through in some places, causing some area of the pool to close late in the season.

Now, the council will discuss solutions that range from repairing the bare necessities to doing a full range of upgrades, both of which will impact next year’s pool season. Cost ranges anywhere from $2 million to $5.5 million.

“As long as we’re already going to have to be doing that work, and we’ll almost certainly will have to keep the pool closed next summer in order to get that work finished, we’re now questioning whether we shouldn’t go above and beyond,“ said North Mankato’s Public Works Director Luke Arnold.

The pool was last upgraded in 2019. The liner was supposed to last at least a decade, and now will be replaced just six years later.

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