Organizers thank community for new pool in Marengo

MARENGO — A large, anonymous donation was the springboard, but it was the entire community that brought a swimming pool back to Marengo, Mayor Adam Rabe said during the pool’s grand opening Saturday.

Robert “Bud” and Georgia Van Scoyoc Johnson put up the first $250,000 for the project and eventually added another $500,000.

“Without your generosity, we might not be here,” Rabe told the couple.

Fundraising efforts from Pennies for the Pool, Pool Pals, businesses and individuals and the passing of a $3.8 million bond issue made the new aquatic center possible, Rabe said.

Lou McMeen “who worked tirelessly,” led the effort for a new pool, said Rabe. The planning and decision team first met in 2021 after 75 residents attended a meeting and convinced the city council that Marengo needed a pool.

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“It’s my hope that we have created something that we can enjoy, our kids can enjoy and someday our grandkids can enjoy,” Rabe said Saturday.

Pennies for the Pool was fundraising long before a new pool was planned, said Paula Long. The group held fundraisers to provide things for the previous pool that a tight city budget couldn’t pay for.

Pennies for the Pool patched, scrubbed, painted and repaired the old pool, located near Compass Memorial Hospital next to the old American Legion on West May Street. The group spent several years running the concession stand to raise money, Long said.

When the pool closed during COVID, Pennies for the Pool became active in the drive to get a new pool, an effort that culminated in the opening of the aquatic center Saturday.

“It’s not just to open a new facility, but to celebrate a dream more than a decade in the making,” Long said. “Let’s celebrate this moment not just for what it is, but for everything it took to get here.”

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Marengo City Councilman Travis Schlabach said it’s hard to believe something good came out of COVID, but the pool, essentially, did.

The old pool was not in good shape and was hard to maintain, but the city kept it limping along. With isolation policies enacted nationwide during COVID, closing the pool seemed to be out of the city’s hands.

“It was an easy out,” said Schlabach.

But Schlabach has two granddaughters, and he wanted them to swim in a pool, not in the river, he said.

With volunteers and donations and the leadership of Marengo attorney Lou McMeen, who “kept the train on the right track,” the city pushed ahead.

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Schlabach said he told City Administor Karla Marck, “We’ve got to get our ducks in a row. We gotta go to high gear.” If the city didn’t get a bond measure passed before the school bond issue came to a vote, the pool was lost, he said.

Not only did the pool bond issue pass, the school bond passed as well.

More than 70% of voters favored issuing bonds to fund construction of a pool. “That shows you the community support and community pride,” said Schlabach.

“We had to build this aquatic center to keep our town going,” said Schlabach. “Bud and Georgia, thank you. We needed that boost. We needed that kick start.”

Courtney Stubblefield, one the Pool Pals, said her family moved to Marengo 11 years ago for a job in health care. An advertisement for a job in Marengo showed the Hawkeyes, corn and Compass Memorial Healthcare with the pool in the background.

“I won’t say it was the pool that totally sold our family on the job, but it was a huge draw for us. We loved so many things about Marengo, but we especially loved that there was a community pool just down the street from where we were going to live,” said Stubblefield.

“I grew up in a place where summer meant swimming.”

When the pool closed “temporarily” in 2020, the Stubblefields were “pretty bummed.” The pool closed permanently the following year, and Stubblefield became active in the drive for a new pool.

Pool Pals started with a campaign to get the vote. “After the bond passed, we hit the ground running with a rummage sale,” said Stubblefield. Other fundraisers followed: a fashion show at Fireside Winery, a quilt auction, bake sales during school events.

“In many amazing ways the community and local businesses came together to purchase, to donate and to participate in the funding of this pool,” Stubblefield said.

“This truly has been a labor of love for the whole town of Marengo,” said Stubblefield. She hopes it entices others to move town.

Bud Johnson said the pool is even more beautiful than the pictures.

A past mayor of Monticello, a town of 4,000 residents in Jones County, Bud, along with his wife, the former Georgia Van Scoyoc of Marengo, runs the Iowa branch of the family business, MinnTex Citrus. They also operate Eastern Iowa Sports Facility in Monticello.

“Lou’s been our lawyer for along time,” Bud said. When the pool closed, McMeen thought the city might be able to afford a splash pad. Coming from a small town that had a pool, Bud got behind the splash pad idea and donated to the cause.

When organizers decided they’d rather have a pool, McMeen asked if Bud and Georgia could support that project.

“I've been there,” Bud said. “I know what’ it’s like. It’s a huge, huge task.”

McMeen said the city needed $900,000. Bud and Georgia offered half as a match for grants.

But bids came in $900,000 over budget, said Bud. McMeen told him that organizers were going to cut amenities They could add things later, he said.

“You can’t add them later, because they won’t get done,” said Bud. So Bud and Georgia increased their donation.

McMeen offered the Johnsons naming rights for the pool to thank them for their donation. “We don’t do it for naming rights,” said Bud. “It’s for the community. We’re just very, very grateful to be part of this,” he said.

McMeen, who the mayor described as “our driving force,” said it’s hard to find donors who will give the amount of money the Johnsons gave.

Thinking of the way the community pulled together to reach such a lofty goal prompted McMeen to say, “Is this heaven? No, it’s Marengo, Iowa.”

McMeen said Marengo has given a lot to him during the 57 years he’s practiced law there. “This is my way of giving back to the community,” he said.