A group of Mt. Lebanon folks told municipal officials and a consultant that its priority for a new outdoor pool would be features that attract a wide variety of people, from senior citizens to new moms to competitive swimmers.

At the same time, most couldn't understand why the municipality and school district weren't coordinating their efforts, because the school district also is planning a new pool as part of a large-scale high school project.

The current outdoor municipal pool was built of aluminum in 1977, just off Cedar Boulevard, but it is wearing out. People have myriad complaints about the swim center, including a baby pool that is too far away from the shallow end of the main pool for parents to watch all their young children. Mt. Lebanon commissioners hired aquatics consultants from Counsilman-Hunsaker, of St. Louis, to conduct a $32,000 study to investigate options and sample public opinion.

"Across the country, not many purely rectangular pools are being built," consultant D. Scot Hunsaker said.

About 50 people attended a public forum at the recreation center last week, although attendance likely was limited by a severe parking shortage created by an open house at nearby Mt. Lebanon High School. The parking crunch was so bad that, at one point, people were using their bodies to hold spaces for friends.

Those who made the meeting, who were broken up into four groups, said they didn't want fancy features like a lazy river or high-tech water slides, nor did they want the new pool to be a regional destination. They said they most wanted:

Heated water

Some water slides and a fountain-type feature for younger kids

A gradual-depth entry, such as a beach

More shade

A 50-meter competitive portion

Diving boards

Better parking

A diving well

Adult-only swim times

Family locker rooms, or unisex rooms for changing several young children.

Several people said they wanted the admission prices to stay low and that they wanted to ensure the operating deficit, which is typical for South suburban pools, does not increase.

"It's a start," said Bill Crock, who said that the last time the community gave input on a pool, nothing came of it. "We've been down this road before. Hopefully, we learned something."

The municipality and school district worked for several years planning a combined indoor natatorium for $11.6 million, but were unable to reach a consensus. The project was killed by the municipal commissioners. The school district then decided to build its own, smaller-scale indoor pool on the high school campus, but ran into zoning issues which delayed the project. It's now set to be part of a large-scale renovation or reconstruction of the high school in the coming years.

"This community is at a crossroads," said Euclid Noble, an officer of the Mt. Lebanon Aqua Club, a private competitive swim club. "I think, as a taxpayer and a resident, I would like to see the school district and the municipality come together and work together for the benefit of the residents and the taxpayers and come up with a master plan that will address the needs of the community as they were brought up tonight. This is the time to do it."

Rich Zahren's group wanted a pool that is "up to date, clean, safe, comfortable, community oriented, with affordable amenities and a competitive element."

After the meeting, Mr. Zahren said he thought the meeting reflected what he'd heard his friends and neighbors say.

"We're not looking for another Sandcastle here," he said of the large water park in West Homestead. "We're just upgrading the scope of what we have."

Mr. Hunsaker said he and associates from his firm spent the days before the seminar interviewing community groups, such as the high school athletic department, members of the Mt. Lebanon Aqua Club and municipal staff members, and visiting other pools, such as the YMCA and Jewish Community Center.

Don Wagner, coach of the Mt. Lebanon High School swim team and the Aqua Club, said pool users would be the only ones who would be able to demand cooperation between the school district and the municipality.

"If the school district and the township could do something jointly, and not duplicate, that would be a great step," he said.

The next community forum will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25 in the Mt. Lebanon municipal building, 710 Washington Road. Representatives of the school district will be invited.

Counsilman-Hunsaker is charged with helping to develop plans for the pool as well as to devise estimates, calculate potential revenue and cash flow and identify who would use the pool and how it would be used.

Mr. Hunsaker said his firm would present four or five concepts at that meeting, which will be "tweaked, changed and massaged."

At a third meeting, which could be as late as January, the firm will conclude with a proposal and estimates for three scenarios, a "dream concept to a reality concept to a fallback," or, as Commissioner John Daley put it, "a BMW, a Honda and a Yugo."