Darlington applies for grant for splash pad

An ambitious community fundraising effort for the Darlington community pool might be getting some help as the city works on applying for grants. The Darlington City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to apply for a $50,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grant. Mayor Mike McDermott said the money from the T-Mobile grant would be used on constructing an ADA-compliant splash pad next to the community pool, which he said is now the city’s priority over other aspects of a project first explored in 2020. On Aug. 4, 2020, the City Council approved a Pool Committee recommendation to pursue a $4.45 million reconstruction of the pool. The “Build the Pool” fundraiser kicked off about six months later. At the time, the goal was to begin construction in the fall of 2022 and finish at the end of 2023, according to documents on the city website.