PORT ANGELES – There’s great news for the William Shore Memorial Pool Expansion project this week. Two separate State grants were awarded to the project for a total of $1.25 million.

A $750,000 Department of Commerce Community Development grant will be used to create much-needed space for the after-school program called SPARK Squad. As of the start of this school year, over 60 kids attend this program every weekday.

That’s Executive Director Steve Burke, who says the grant money will allow them to keep the entire kids program within the new pool facility.

The Pool District also applied for and won a $500,000 grant from the Recreation Conservation Office, to be used for the construction of an exercise pool.

The renovation and expansion construction is slated to begin in April of 2019. Updates for the community will be posted on the William Shore Memorial District website, williamshorepool.org, including a brand new set of architectural drawings due to come out next month.