photo by: John Young

Dale Rorabaugh sweeps muck away while Trevor Locke uses a power washer in the background as volunteers work to restore the County Fair Swim Club pool at 2119 Maple Lane on Monday evening, June 6, 2016. Thanks to a donor, the pool hopes to open later this month.

Having survived a near-death experience, the County Fair Swim Club will be a summer destination for eastern Lawrence children for another summer.

“It has more lives than a cat,” Missi Pfeifer said of the neighborhood pool at 2119 Maple Lane. “It’s had 55 lives.”

Pfeifer said an anonymous benefactor came to the pool’s rescue with a $10,000 donation after reading a May 25 story in the Journal-World announcing the pool would not open this summer for the first time in more than five decades. Volunteers are now preparing the pool for a June 18 opening.

photo by: John Young

A stream of water from a power washer cuts through caked on dirt and muck as volunteers work to restore the County Fair Swim Club pool at 2119 Maple Lane on Monday evening. Thanks to a donor, the pool hopes to open later this month.

“It was amazing,” she said. “He doesn’t want his name revealed. He said, ‘Some of my best memories are of jumping in a clean pool as a kid on the first day of the season. I want your neighborhood children to have the same memories.'”

Pfeifer said she did persuade the publicity-shy benefactor to share an evening with those most appreciative of his gift.

“We’re going to have a family night once we open,” she said. “I’ve invited him, and he said he’d be happy to come.”

The pool was originally built in 1961 by the developers of the neighborhood and was supported through an annual assessment on the homes of residents, who had exclusive access to the facility. That arrangement stopped paying the annual bills when the neighborhood changed and many of the homes became rentals. When Pfeifer started managing the pool 15 years ago, she opened the pool to all, charging $2 for an all-day admission and $1 for those arriving after 5 p.m. She has been able to keep it open through annual fundraising efforts, which she said she found to be too much of a solo responsibility this year.

photo by: John Young

Trevor Locke is reflected in a pool of dirty water while power washing the bottom of a swimming pool as volunteers work to restore the County Fair Swim Club pool at 2119 Maple Lane on Monday evening. Thanks to a donor, the pool hopes to open later this month.

Noah Pfeifer, who grew up spending summers at the pool his mother managed, said many people were upset with the news of the pool’s closing.

“I couldn’t go to the grocery store or gas station without people asking if the pool was really closing,” he said. “Now I get to tell them the good news.”

It will be less than two weeks before the gates to the pool open, Pfeifer said. On Monday, a submersible pump was draining water that collected in the pool since its closing last Labor Day. When it’s empty, volunteers will wash down the pool with an acid treatment and then repaint it this weekend. The paint needs five days to cure before the pool can be filled with water and before the aging plumbing and filtration system can be tested, Pfeifer said.

“If all goes well, we will open June 18,” she said. “I say all goes well, because that depends on if everything works when we turn it on. There’s always a hiccup, but nothing that can’t be fixed.”

The donation didn’t provide all the funds needed to operate the pool through the summer, Pfeifer said. She plans a GoFundMe drive to raise another $5,000. A link to that campaign will be posted at the pool’s Facebook page, facebook.com/countyfairswimclub, Pfeifer said. Donations can also be mailed to: County Fair Swim Club; P.O. box 976; Lawrence KS, 66046.

The unexpected donation has Pfeifer and the nonprofit’s board looking ahead.

“Our hope is with this big donation, most of the fundraising we’re doing now will help us get a head start on next year,” she said. “We’ve never been able to do that before.”