New pool builds on a history of grand swimming facilities
Wednesday December 10, 2008
The children’s splash toy area of the newly revamped Cobar Memorial Swimming Pool has already proved popular with local kids, including two year old Sonny Maloney who still got just a big a thrill on his third visit to the pool on Saturday.
Check out pool photos here
Cobar’s new pool opened last week and since then, a steady stream of people have passed through the gates to check out the facilities.
The new 50m pool boats a surface area of 762m², and a volume of 1,280m³.
The original pool was opened on November 10, 1962 by the Hon PN Ryan, Minister for Public Works.
Work began almost exactly a year earlier, with the foundation stone laid on November 18, 1961.
A plaque at the pool commemorates the “men and women who made the supreme sacrifice in the two Great Wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45”.
The original pool was the jewel in Cobar’s crown, constructed before the town was connected to a permanent water supply via the pipeline to Nyngan.
The seven lane, Olympic size pool was complemented by a “permanent wading pool”.
According to historical figures, the original pools had a total combined water capacity of 400,000 gallons (approximately 1.54 megalitres).
The pool water was treated by gravity feed filters and the use of chlorine at a rate of 50,000 gallons per hour.
The new 50m pool is treated with chlorine gas and uses three 6.4m² high-rate sand
filters.
The plant has a capacity of 167 litres per second.
The former pool cost a total of $140,000 to construct in the 1960s, with $36,000 raised through local subscriptions.
Loans for some of the costs were also underwritten by Cobar Mines Pty Ltd and the Cobar Memorial Services Club.
The waterslide was not added until 1983.
The new pool is a multi-million dollar structure.
The pool will be officially opened with a ceremony next Tuesday at 10am where Member for Barwon Kevin Humphries and mayor Lilliane Brady will unveil a plaque.
The pool’s designers will be on hand for the official opening and there will be free entry all day.
See photos from the construction of the original pool as well as the new pool here.
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