A ribbon cutting was held Tuesday at the newly renovated Dinkins Pool, which opened for the first time since 2013.

As Mayor George Evans, members of the Edmundite Missions and councilman Michael Johnson led the ceremony to open the pool, children could already be heard splashing around the water and laughing.

“Now it’s completely ready to roll and not piecemealed,” Evans said. “We’ve been doing things in pieces and bits and pieces but there’s enough money to it now that the water and the pumps and all of that works. Hopefully this pool will be here when we’re gone.”

Evans and Johnson estimated the project to cost over $80,000. Although the amount they donated was not disclosed, the Edmundite Missions provided more than half of the funding needed.

“This is really ministry at its best for the Missions,” said Chad McEachern, executive director of the Edmundite Missions. “These kids deserve the best and this is a great way to be able to allow them a little bit of what we can do to help to make their summers better and stay cool particularly on a day that is hitting 100 [degrees].”

Johnson said that every council members donated varying amounts to the project and the mayor did as well.

“I want to thank the other seven council members,” Johnson said. “We had from $500 to $5,000 [donated]. Everybody did what they were able to do.”

The project included a new pool pump, which had the water looking crystal clear for the opening ceremony, and the pool’s surface being completely redone. A nice even surface greeted visitors Tuesday, as opposed to the cracked concrete that used to outline the pool.

“The pool has been reworked from the filtration system to the pool body itself,” said Gary Lovelady, a volunteer who oversaw the project for the city. “It is like a new pool. It is a new pool. It’s just like if you get your house out and completely rebuild it. It is a new pool.”

Lovelady said 99 percent of the pool was reworked during the project.

Johnson said he, the mayor and former recreation director Elton Reece made an agreement last year to do it right and not just patch the problems at the pool. He said Tuesday all of that hard work paid off.

“We made an agreement that we were going to go ahead and shut it down and [get] it done right and I appreciate that,” Johnson said. “I know the kids sacrificed and weren’t able to swim last year but that year was worth it. Now they’ve got the whole summer to swim.”

Johnson is still working on adding a security system to the pool to keep vandals out and ensure children stay safe.

The pool is located at the corner of Division Street and Dexter Avenue. The pool’s hours are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The cost per session is 50 cents per person, although the Missions is working on a project that would ensure no child would be turned away.

“I cannot say enough about what Chad and Edmundites brought to the table,” Evans said.

“At the end of the day we could not have done this without their assistance in partnering with the city.”