BELLEFONTE, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Kepler Pool is continuing to make waves in Centre County as community members are waiting for a reopening date. With new funding on the horizon, that day may be coming sooner rather than later.

“The path for this project has not been straightforward,” Cindy Kunes with the Nittany Valley Joint Recreation Authority said. “There have been a lot of curves and bumps in the road but we continue to be very committed in trying to move it forward.”

At the Centre County Board of Commissioners meeting on Nov. 14, the NVJRA gave an update on the pool’s progress.

Kepler Pool has been closed since 2020 and organizers are ready to move ahead with securing funding for two phases of construction. Kunes said NVJRA has secured about $1,200,000 in funding for the project already and has decided on a final design.

At the commissioner’s meeting, the board passed a resolution in support of funding through the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Local Share Account Statewide grants. The commissioners are requesting a grant of $999,998 from the CFA to be put toward Kepler Pool renovations.

“We definitely would ask our two state senators and our three state representatives to burn some political capital on this one and make it happen,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said.

Kunes said the money would be able to be used to match funding from other grants related to the Kepler Pool project in the future.