Newburgh is abuzz as contractors put the finishing touches on the city's pool and aquatic center on Washington Street that took four years to build.

"She keeps asking me, 'When can we go? When does it open?," Jose Trujillo said of his 9-year-old granddaughter's excitement about the pool. "We pass it everyday on the way to school and she always looks."

Trujillo and other residents were a bit surprised by admission prices though.

A child's day pass is $5. A season pass for a family of four is $85.

"You got a lot of people who right now are not working," Trujillo said of the community. "They're afraid to go out to go to work because of the situation the way it is."

City officials seemed to hear the residents clearly, responding by setting up a donation fund to help families who may be overburdened by the costs.

Newburgh's season pass actually costs less than those at other, older nearby public pools, based on prices compiled Tuesday by News 12.

Residents do not miss Newburgh's old, crumbling pool that closed in 2019.

They do miss the old daily entry fee of $1.

Mayor Torrance Harvey said donors are stepping up, noting that one local teacher just pledged a donation of $2,000.

Harvey said city officials will help, too.

He said that if discretionary funds given to each council member cannot be reallocated under the law, he and his colleagues will still chip in.

"I know council members, including myself, who are going to donate monies from our personal funds," he said.

Shonte Rios arrived at the aquatic center Tuesday to show her 14-year-old daughter the layout over FaceTime.

"Newburgh did it!," she said.

She is pleased to learn the city is raising funds for young peoples' pool outings, especially considering what they have been through in recent years.

"Since the pandemic, everything has been *inaudible* for the kids," she said, but this is the best thing that's ever happened [in Newburgh]. The kids are going to love it, so we're all for the kids."

The aquatic center's grand opening is this Friday.

Spread out over the season, which ends on Labor Day, a family season pass would cost less than $1 per day.

Harvey re-enforced that property owners will not be paying extra in taxes to fund the aquatic center because it is almost entirely funded through federal and state grants.

Sales of pool passes will help pay the staff, which includes 15 lifeguards.