Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette Dormont children wave signs seeking support to keep the Dormont swimming pool open this summer.

They're going door to door in Dormont, raising cash and consciences, waving signs and fists, striving to save what one man calls "our pool, the jewel of the South Hills."

The sunny Sunday afternoon was perfect for a protest, and about 300 residents turned out at the pool parking lot yesterday for a "Save Our Pool: One Dollar at a Time" rally. Parents passed petitions, chanting children converted coffee cans into collection containers and politicians promised to pass the hat in Harrisburg.

Borough engineer Ruthann Omer made waves last month when she told council the old pool is too broken to open this year without major repair work. Beams that hold up floors in the two-story bathhouse are unsafe, and leaks beneath the deck cost the borough 6.2 million gallons of water and an extra $42,000 last year.

Mayor Thomas Lloyd said a complete overhaul could cost up to $2 million.

"Save Our Pool" organizer John Maggio said the place could be shored up in time for its traditional Memorial Day opening for about $30,000. Fund raising for the bigger project could then continue through the summer.

"Raising funds for a swimming pool is a lot easier if the swimming pool is open," he said.

"This pool can be its own fund-raiser," said Mary Maggio, John's sister. "We're afraid that if we don't get it open this year, it never will open again."

Right now, the pool's a $46,000 annual drain on Dormont finances. This year's budget includes $190,000 for the swimming pool, the mayor said. It brings in about $144,000.

The Dormont Pool dates to 1920, when locals dammed a stream at a popular swimming hole along Banksville Road to form a shallow pond. The present 60,000-square-foot pool, one of the area's largest, was created in 1928, with giant slides, multiple diving boards and tons of sand poured around the edges for a beach effect.

The recreational complex was a big hit in the South Hills. On July 4, 1949, a record 5,000 bathers squeezed through the gates. The facilities, much altered since then, still draw swimmers from nearby Castle Shannon, Green Tree and Mt. Lebanon with the tree-shaded lawn, $3.50 weekday admission fee and an unbroken 50-meter length favored by lap-swimmers.

It's the little things that would be most missed, said swimmer Noreen Crowell: the voice of Betty the Pool Lady, who calls out on the intercom to slow-moving children, warning them when their parents' patience is running low; the family of ducks that paddle around the deep end each season; splashing toddlers, kiddie swim lessons and sunbathing beauties; and summer jobs for teen lifeguards.

Mr. Maggio last weekend started the door-to-door campaign and raised $2,000, his sisters said. A state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant can bring in $75,000 if matching local funds can be found by year's end. The mayor said he's appealed to Allegheny County officials for help. State Rep. Tom Petrone and state Sen. Wayne Fontana, both Dormont pool users, said they're attaching the swimming pool bill to pending state spending bills.

"I can't see us letting this go," Mr. Lloyd said. "My wife swims here, my son Dan learned how to swim here, and now the grandkids, too. It's a community asset."