Glee

Glee. great delight, joy, merriment. The ever-changing Big Pool brought happiness to generations of kids, Evolution , Holding nearly two million gallons of water, the Big Pool was hand dug and concrete poured by the people of the community of Garden City in 1921. The Big Pool was originally one large undivided expanse of water and over the years swim lanes, diving boards, and an inflatable obstacle course were added., In the beginning the pool was not fenced, and people visited at any hour of the day that they pleased. Dogs sometimes joined their owners in the pool. Cleaning the pool was a chore, requiring a fishing beat to add pool chemicals and to vacuum the pool bottom., Upgrades , The first upgrade to the pool after its inaugural season in 1922 was the addition of the bathhouse, a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project, and a children's wading pool that were both constructed during the 1930s., By the 1990s, the pool was beginning to show its age and needed a facelift. The City Commission prepared a master plan with phased improvements to be implemented over time as budget allowed. In 2003, the Garden City Recreation Commission took over management of the pool and user fees were charged for the first time in history. Funds raised contributed to the third, and most visible, facelift to the pool in nearly 84 years. In 2006, the pool opened with five newly installed slides, a plunge pool, and a bulkhead dividing the pool into north and south halves., In 2019, faced with mounting operational costs and declining daily swimmers, the City gathered community input from a wide selection of the community with surveys to schools, civic and community groups. Support for an upgraded aquatics center was unanimous, and a design team was selected to implement improvements. Improvements to the pool include a zero-entry pool, a lazy river, new water slides, diving boards, a competition lane pool, lounge areas, shade structures, and an updated bathhouse.