MARS — The public is invited to a meeting next week to discuss the future of the Mars swimming pool.

Mayor Gregg Hartung said Tuesday that the meeting will be at 7 p.m. next Wednesday at the pool and recreation building, which is near the end of Stanton Avenue. The evening also will include a free swim.

He said pool board members came to him for ideas to keep the pool open in the face of waning membership numbers.

Hartung took the board's concerns to the Aug. 4 borough council meeting, where council members decided that a public meeting would be warranted to discuss ways to keep the pool viable.

Issues such as making the private pool public, listing what changes would be required in going public, and considering the borough's financial responsibilities if the pool goes public will be discussed.

“It might be time that the membership pool becomes a public entity,” Hartung said.

The pool board and Hartung will listen to input from residents.

Nichole Fromlak, pool board treasurer, said the cap for memberships is 150. While numbers would reach that cap 10 years ago, the pool now has 94 memberships.

“It takes 150 memberships to run the pool profitably,” Fromlak said.

She said the board is paying on a mortgage taken out in 2008 to build the $180,000 multipurpose recreation building. It includes bathrooms with showers, a fireplace, movies, and games like ping-pong and air hockey. It can also be rented.

The board paid for several improvement projects last year, including repairs of a pool pump, a leak near the slide, and work at the baby pool.

Fromlak and other board members cite various factors for the decrease in membership, including housing developments having their own pools, the members from the 1950s and 1960s growing older and their children and grandchildren not joining, day care, and the busy sports and activity schedules of youngsters today.

The board has sponsored events to raise funds and awareness, including Pancakes at the Pool, a garage sale, Christmas in July, a booth at the annual Mars Applefest in October, and teaming with the Mars Public Library for swim events.

“We can't afford a mass mailing,” Fromlak said.

She said the board five years ago also eliminated the $125 initiation fee for new members.

Angie McSwain, the wife of board president Mac McSwain, said the board would not be averse to opening to the public because even at capacity, the neighborhood feel of the pool would not be affected.

“The kids and parents all get to know each other,” she said. “There's a sense of community.”

Fromlak said the board hopes a solution will arise at next week's meeting, including designating the pool as public.

“If the borough helps, it could reinvigorate the pool,” she said.

Hartung said he would hate to see the pool close because it is a worthy feature in the one-square-mile borough.

“Facilities like this attract families that have children to our community,” Hartung said. “They see it as a nice amenity to living here.”

He said the pool was built in the late 1950s.

“It's a keepsake to a lot of the older people who would like to see it maintained and upgraded if needed, for use by their children and their children's children,” Hartung said. “It's a legacy.”

He said council cannot assume financial responsibility for the pool if it should go public, but is open to ideas such as creating an authority to run the pool, seeking a corporate sponsorship, or finding other ways it could become public without being a financial burden on the borough.

Hartung said he regrets that pool memberships are decreasing.

“It's a reality of the times we live in,” he said.

Pool memberships range from $135 for an individual to $375 for a family. Senior, couple, and nanny memberships, as well as guest passes, are also available. Prices for memberships increase after March 1.

More information is available at www.marspool.webs.