At the Washington County Riverboat Foundation’s fall grant awards presentation, one of the largest grants of the night went to the City of Winfield for their new pool. WCRF President Mike Driscoll explained at the ceremony, “Winfield is in the process of building a new pool. It will have a zero-entry depth, slides, and diving board. Winfield has requested funding to help build the bath house, and WCRF is glad to grant $50,000.” Winfield Mayor Chris Finnell was on hand to accept the grant, and he says the city’s current pool is from the 1960’s and has outlived itself. The new pool will be a smaller version of Washington’s aquatic center, and in addition to the zero-entry depth, slides, and diving board, there will also be three lanes for lap swimming and an area specifically for kids to play in. The new pool will be built near the Twin Lakes Country Club.

Finnell was unable to hide his excitement at the ceremony, saying, “I’m just so happy, and I thank the Riverside Casino and also the board for giving this to us. We really appreciate it. I know we’re out of county, but we do expect Washington County kids to come to our pool. We still really thank them for that, and we’re very appreciative.” The total pool project has an estimated cost of $200,000, and Finnell says they’re still looking at other grants and contributions from the community. He is hopeful construction of the pool will begin in the fall of 2017 and be completed by spring of 2018.