Swimming and diving seasons are just around the corner and South’s swimmers and divers are currently pool-less. Since February, the pool has been closed for renovations; however, construction is running ahead of schedule, and students are expected to finally be able to jump in sometime in October.
“When you look at the pool when it’s finished, you won’t see a lot of changes,” said Jay True. The bleachers have been completely redone, new entrances were added, the ceiling was repaired, new diving boards and a new scoreboard was installed.
Despite this, True explained that “the big changes are under the pool.” Bloomington South’s old pool was built in 1978, so it was more than 40 years old. Everything underneath the pool was falling apart: the heater, the pipes, and the foundation. Pipes were constantly bursting or getting clogged and the heater would frequently give out. At one time, students were having to swim in cold water.
“The old pool was falling apart, the blocks were super loose, there were multiple holes in the ceiling, the heater was broken, and the scoreboard barely worked,” said Senior swimmer Adam Kovacs.
Kovacs remembers the freezing cold water day.
“One of my worst experiences with the old pool was waking up at 5 in the morning and jumping into freezing cold water,” said Kovacs. He also recalled busting his head on the bottom of the pool due to the wobbly blocks on the side. Luckily, this will no longer be the case.
The entire pool and its components were dug out of the ground and it was reconstructed from a dirt hole. All of the piping was redone, a new heater was installed, and the foundation was redone, which means no more wobbly blocks, cold water, or clogged pipes.
Kovacs, who is “very excited for the new pool,” was able to take a look at the new pool recently. “It looked fantastic,” said Kovacs. “Everything looked very new and there was a drastic improvement from the previous pool.” Kovacs is also relieved that the renovation is finally nearing its end, due to the fact that South swimmers had to practice in North’s pool.
The renovation is expected to be completed sometime in October, possibly as early as October 1st.
