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5/25/2006 |
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Humboldt Swimming Pool - looking east. |
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The old pool served well for 50 plus years
Pat Baker
It
was 1941 and there was no swimming pool in Humboldt.
Perhaps it was because of the de-pressions of the 1920s and
30s. Editorials in the local newspapers during the early
1940s were fis-cally conservative and, some might say,
lacked vision.
But hard times affected other towns, too, and they had swim-ming
pools. Editorials were against daylight savings time, a
local airport and almost anything that cost public money. An
edito-rial in the Humboldt Republican in June 1941
acknowledged:
"Each year there are deaths in Humboldt County due to acci-dents
occurring during recreation of our citizens. There were six
drownings over the last week in Iowa. The most tragic
drowning occurred in Humboldt County, when Robert Shekey,
16, met death in the east fork of the Des Moines River just
north of the Dakota City dam...
"Our rivers in Humboldt County have taken an average of more
than one victim each year . . . The task that we must set
our-selves is to guard the waters as carefully as possible,
though we know that in spite of our efforts death will
occasionally take a toll. . . Death waits around the corner,
and some day somewhere he will meet one that we know and
love, and there will be another trag-edy..."
The editorial said nothing about building a swimming pool,
with lifeguards.
As Humboldt had no swim-ming pool, Pocahontas welcomed
swimmers from Humboldt, with free-swimming days. Algona had
a municipally-owned swimming pool. At Eagle Grove,
the town built the pool, but during the de-pression an
individual took it over. Fort Dodge had a pool at Expo Park
that featured an area where those swimming under water could
be viewed. There was also a pool at Clarion.
In 1941, The American Red Cross offered senior life-saving
and water-safety instructors' courses at the Pocahontas
swim-ming pool. They issued a list of "hints for your
safety," which was published in our local newspaper.
A campaign for a swimming pool in Humboldt began to
orga-nize during 1944. Chairman of the Swimming Pool
Committee was Don Pierson, with Dr. Jensen, Roy Worthington,
Vern Miller, and Howard McKee as committee members.
Irene (Mrs. Arthur) Clark, a writer for the local newspaper,
gave a testimonial to the commit-tee:
"Last summer our oldest son, who is really a pretty good
swimmer, was swimming near the "big tree" and was caught in
the current and carried over the dam. The water was high and
luckily covered the rocks below the dam so he was uninjured.
"When I questioned him about it later, he said, 'I didn't
struggle against the current - there wasn't any use. At
first I wondered if I'd get out O.K. then I just let it
carry me. It's all over now, mom, and I didn't get hurt, so
don't worry.' But it never would have happened if we'd had a
swimming pool."
"For years we and a lot of other Humboldt people have wished
for a pool. I wasted no time in sign-ing the first petition
I ran across. Our sons may not be here many more years to
use a pool, but other people have "kids" and I'd vote it for
them.
"Last spring, during our big rains, we had a "lake" south of
our place. A group of children played in it...when I stopped
to caution them about an open well in the middle of the
"lake" one little fellow said, 'Oh, we know it. One of the
kids was swimming Satur-day and he fell in, but we got him
out and told the other kids.' It probably would not have
hap-pened if Humboldt had a pool."
"Of course our kids can hitch-hike to other towns to swim,
but if some kind soul does not offer rides, the fun of
swimming is gone after a few miles of walking in the dust
and baking in the highway heat. In a way it's just like
sending the kids over to the neighbors to eat.
"These facts apply to oldsters as well as youngsters, as old
and young should and do all enjoy swimming. We needed a pool
years ago. We needed one last year, and we need one now. If
we can't afford a pool, we can't afford anything else."
On Aug. 7, 1944, Humboldt voted on a bond issue for a swim-ming
pool, and it passed 533 to 131. That is a margin of four to
one. The proposition was for $25,000 in bonds for the con-struction
of a pool that would be approximately 60 x 160 feet.
The location of the pool and the manner in which it would be
con-structed was to be decided. The committee was opposed to
plac-ing the pool in one of our existing parks. They
suggested putting it on lots north of the (old) football
field, at the fairgrounds, in the valley between the towns,
or in south Humboldt. Suggestions were welcomed.
As it turned out, it was nine years before Humboldt had its
pool. What took so long? The bonds were never sold due to
war restrictions and shortages. The next time a vote was
taken on the pool, it was 1951, and the pool cost $90,000.
Much interest was shown. This time the newspaper editorials
were in favor of it. Local citizens, such as Dr. Ivan
Schultz, spoke to community groups and went door-to-door,
promoting the pool.
The original design and general plan were followed, but
drawn into these plans were new meth-ods of filtering and
new equip-ment and facilities made available since the first
plans were drawn in 1944. The vote was taken on Dec. 4,
1951, and passed 544 to 348, well over the 60 percent
needed.
Bids were let in July 1952. Sande Construction had the
con-tract to build the pool and Edge Brothers provided fill
for the area. Work on the project began July 21, with date
of completion November 1952. The original pool was a 150 by
60 feet, rectan-gular shape with depths of three feet to 9
feet. It had a diatoma-ceous earth filter system, electric
pump, chlorinator, and water valve for filling the pool.
The new pool was filled with water Wednesday, June 10, 1953.
The fence had been installed and testing of filtering and
chlorinat-ing equipment was started. Offi-cials of the state
department of health were on hand to supervise last-minute
preparations and as-sure that the pool water was safe and
pure. The facilities could take care of 350 swimmers at one
time, they said.
The pool was open for swim-mers on Sunday, June 14, with a
total of 850 swimmers on hand that day. Attendance the first
three days averaged nearly 600 persons. Admission was 40
cents for adults and 20 cents for children. Season tickets
cost $15 per fam-ily, $4 for students, and $5.50 for adults.
A swimming meet was tentatively planned with a team from
Eagle Grove.
Water safety instructors were Meredith Mosbach, Carolyn Saul
and Vern Jensen. Guards at the pool included Dick Gogg,
Mere-dith Mosbach, Vern Joiner, Bill Henderson, Vern Jensen,
John Cran, and Sherryl Davis. Check room workers were Mrs.
Ruth Barrett, JoAnn Edge, Kathleen Jensen, and Diane
Lindstrom.
Swimming lessons for both children and adults were under the
direction of Guy Carter. A total of 312 Humboldt and Dakota
City children, 95 adults, and 157 chil-dren from out of town
signed up for lessons the first day. School busses brought
children from Bode, Rutland, Bradgate, and Gilmore City for
the morning lessons.
Teenage and adult volunteers were needed at the pool to help
supervise swimming lessons. These included: Clarice Nelson,
Arloween Lovering, Marietta Solbeck, Kaye Johnson, Harriett
Housel, Lois Tellier, Karla An-dersen, Marshall Lovrien,
Kent Tigges, Marilla Nelson, Donna Mease, Mrs. W.B. Tigges,
Mrs. Vern Miller, Mrs Harold Coltvet, Louisa Tipperger, Mrs.
Karl An-dersen, Mrs. Simonson, Mrs. Ri-denour, Mrs. Homer
Bjornsen, and Mrs. Floyd Rokenbrodt.
A formal opening of the pool was scheduled for Friday, July
17, 1953. The program was arranged by the Humboldt-Dakota
City Chamber of Commerce and the Humboldt County Chapter of
the American Red Cross. The com-mittee included Eddie
Andersen, Clyde Mease, Warren Smith, and Paul Reasoner.
A special attraction was the crowning of the Queen of the
Pool, who reigned over the formal opening ceremonies. A
bathing beauty contest at the pool on Sunday, July 12,
narrowed the 20 contestants for the title down to three
candidates. A photo shows them lined up alongside the pool,
clad in modest one-piece bathing suits and high-heeled
shoes.
Candidates for the Pool Queen were: Kathleen Lane, Gayle Lee
Price, Lois Tellier, Karla Ander-sen, Kay E. Johnson,
Shirley Jen-sen, Kay Johnson, Ruth Christen-sen, Geraldine
Camper, Clarice Nelson, Marilyn Edwards, Gloria Johnson,
Meredith Mosbach, Ruth Schultz, Julia Beeson, Norma Day,
Lois Ressler, Nancy Robinson, Joanne Edge, and Di-ane
Lindstrom.
Nearly 2,000 persons were on hand for formal opening
ceremo-nies of the new Humboldt Mu-nicipal Swimming Pool.
Nancy Robinson (Mrs. Stan Jensen) was crowned Queen of the
Pool by Mayor L.D. Snyder. Nancy, who was sponsored in the
bathing beauty contest by Wind's Bootery, received a $25
savings bond and a beautiful bouquet. Her attendants were
Clarice Nelson of Bradgate, entered by Humboldt Hardware and
Appliance, and Diane Lindstrom, entered by Van's Skelgas.
Master of ceremonies was Ted Juel. The large crowd
overflowed the seating capacity and gathered on all sides of
the pool, both in-side and outside the fence. The program
featured synchronized swimming exhibitions, a rope-skipping
demonstration by a Des Moines team that won national
recognition, and diving exhibi-tions.
Others taking part in the ceremonies were the Rev. Frank O.
Johnson; Bud LaCour of Goldfield, who provided back-ground
music on the organ; and Park Board members Hubert Hood, Mrs.
O.E. Barsness and R.V. Worthington.
The wading pool at Taft Park was supervised by Phyllis Chan-tland
from 1952 to 1954. In 1954, a wading pool for small children
was added to the southwest corner of the swimming pool
campus, and was supervised by Diane Lindstrom. The wading
pool in Taft Park was removed in 1955, as it was no longer
needed.
As the years passed, there were concerns that the Humboldt
Mu-nicipal Swimming Pool was not deep enough for safe
diving. In September 1976, construction began on a project
to add an 11 feet-deep diving pit, 33 by 39 feet adjacent to
the original diving area. Two diving boards were erected on
the north side, and a water slide was placed on the east
side.
Other construction included a 4 ft. by 4 ft. concrete tunnel
around the perimeter of the pool to con-tain the
recirculation pipes, a new filter system, pool heater,
concrete deck, and outdoor lighting. It cost $184,229.50.
Sande Construction was awarded the contract. Work was
completed the following summer.
A leak caused a delay in open-ing the swimming pool
in 1981. The main structure and drain were in good
condition, but joints be-tween the old and new construc-tion
had become loose due to frost. The pool was open by the
middle of June.
Lifeguards that year included: C.A. Lane, Julie Bonnstetter,
Tracy Michael, Alyson Fishel, Julie Peters, Janet Moench,
Kristi McKenna, Bethe Lonning, Mike Duffy, and Zoe Folkers,
manager. Other pool managers after Dick Gogg include: Rick
Kuhlman, Pam Duffy, Mike Duffy, Missy Christianson, and DeDe
Carver. [We would like to include the names of all who
served as Park Board members, managers, guards or worked at
the pool, but records are missing.]
The next phase of improvement was the remodeling of the
bath-house in 1982. When the pool was built, the bathhouse
had no roof. There were stories that any-one flying over
could look in, but no one took these seriously. After 19
years of hard use, the entire bathhouse building needed
re-modeling.
Russ Christensen, Park Commission member, said, "We
completely gutted the inside, poured all new floors, and
in-stalled built-in dressing stalls and benches. The roof
will eliminate problems with the weather, and skylights will
provide adequate lighting."
All-new plumbing and lighting fixtures, an additional rest
room and dressing area for the life-guards, and roll-up
steel doors for the guard/ticket room were added. The work
was done by Sande Construction and cost $60,000, from
Revenue-Sharing funds.
Pool hours were still 1-9 p.m. daily, with the traditional
season opening on Memorial Day week-end and closing on Labor
Day weekend. Special hours were 12-1 p.m., Monday through
Friday, for lap swimming, and noon and evening swimnastics
classes.
Red Cross swimming lessons were offered weekday mornings,
9-12, with programming for all age groups. The Humboldt
County Association of Retarded Citizens used the pool for a
time every warm weekday morning. Seven full-time and 10
part-time lifeguards were employed. Con-cessions, consisting
of pop, chips and ice cream, provided some income.
In 1984, the Lions Club in-stalled a pool ladder for the
handicapped. In cooperation with our school system, the
football team was granted permission to use the pool after
practice in July. The school used the pool for two weeks
that fall. Later it was pro-posed to start a swimming team.
By 1984, pool fees were $1.50 per day adult, $1 per day
student, family $45 per season, single $25 per season. They
also offered books of 10 tickets for $12.50. When RAGBRAI
stopped over-night in July 1985 guests were granted
permission to use the showers and the pool for $1.
In 1985, pool employees in-cluded Michael Duffy, manager,
and lifeguards Michelle Havlik, Scott Maras, Annette Ford,
Karla McKenna, Michael Havlik, Tracey Meyer, Stephanie Ka-pustka,
and Kristi McKenna. Concessions were sold by Melissa
Christensen, Diane Glosen, Darcy Andersen, and Nancy
Thorson.
Park Board members included Russell L. Christensen, Jerry
Knudsen, Nancy Jensen, and later Maurice Abens. Duane
Randall was Recreation Director through 1986, followed by
Doug Heckler.
In 1986, a pay telephone was installed at the pool. In 1987,
the wading pool was reconstructed. The main feature of the
1987 pool work was the incorporation of a recirculation
system. Pool repairs completed in 1987 saved over 200,000
gallons of water that year. Kiwanis raised a great deal of
money for the recreation de-partment by renting the popcorn
stand from the Park Board, and selling concessions at Taft
Park.
In 1989, Kevin Boji was Rec-reation Director. The pool
bottom was replaced and a concrete deck was added. For the
next 15 years, the Park Board sought to keep the pool in
repair. Park Board mem-bers included John Sleiter, Shelly
Zittritsch, Steve Reimers, Steve Bohan, Mike Worthington,
Bill Sundell, and Kim Jensen.
It was becoming evident that the pool had served its purpose
and it was time to build a new one. First one committee,
then another, developed plans for us-ing local option sales
tax reve-nues to finance a pool.
Among those who devoted much time and energy on these
committees were Mike Dailey, Jim Sayers, Royce Humphreys,
Larry Curran, Lois Ann Johnson, Karin Sande, Linda Hansen,
Barb Gidel, Michelle Jensen, Ron Sande, Steve Sandblom, Rob
Dunscombe, Mike Worthington, and John Dodgen. On March 22,
2001, the effort failed by 17 votes.
With the advice of the Park Board in 2003, the City of Hum-boldt
embarked upon a new task of replacing the outdated
50-year-old swimming pool. The City Council
established a Pool Steer-ing Committee to begin evaluat-ing
the condition of the pool and the city's options. They were
to report back to the City Council with recommendations.
The Pool Steering Committee held public meetings to gain
pub-lic input on site location, ameni-ties, and features.
Original steer-ing committee members were Mike Worthington
(chair), Kelly Bentz, Steve Bice, Larry Curran, John Eppley,
Ryan Ersland, Kelly Howard, Fred Mikolasko, Mike Sexe, Jim
Vermeer, and Kevin Zinnel.
Mike Dailey, Dawn Mason, Brian Johnsen, Arlee Waring, Scott
Lerdal, Helen Wickre, Linda Danielson, Tammy Hock, Sherri
Bornhoft, Candy Carlson, Karen Berte, Karin Sande, DeDe
Carver, Red Cross Aquatics Director Tina Clarken, Recreation
Directors Deborah Martinez and Chris Clarken, and City
Administrator Grant Kleinhenz also served.
A basic design was decided upon, as well as selecting the
former DeKalb location on Sum-ner Avenue. To make a long
story short, a vote for the Humboldt Family Aquatic Center
was held on Aug. 31, 2004, and passed 1,515 to 405.
The Humboldt Municipal Swimming Pool was closed on
Labor Day, 2005. The property was purchased from the city by
the Humboldt County Fair Board, with plans to remove all
concrete, level and seed the site. In January 2006, work
began to tear it down. The new Humboldt Family Aquatic
Center is sched-uled to open in May. |
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