Two years pass before pool committee succeeds

The lengthy swimming pool odyssey is fascinating to follow. We take a deep dive into the story

Last week, Flash from the Past left readers on the verge of diving into the story of how Kitchener finally got a proper swimming pool. To recap: in the late 1920s there was no place in the city to swim in a public, supervised, sanitary setting. At the same time, at the YMCA’s small indoor pool, hundreds of youngsters were taking swimming lessons each year. Their subsequent options? The Grand River (heavily polluted in that era), dammed ponds on city streams, Waterloo’s Silver Lake, Doon’s Willow Lake, Preston’s Riverside Park, plus a few small lakes in the townships ... or, for the better-off, long car rides to beaches along the Great Lakes.

Beginning in June 1929 and culminating in May 1931, the two-year swimming pool odyssey is fascinating to follow. It would take several months’ worth of columns to detail the story so, this week and next, you’ll receive a shorter overview of the, at times humorous, at times frustrating, at times Alice-in-Wonderlandish, political trajectory.

Beginning in June 1929, an ad hoc citizens’ group promoted an in-ground, concrete swimming pool in Victoria Park. At 225-by-125-feet, it would have been two-thirds the size of a Canadian football field. Varying from one-to-eight feet deep, the plan was to use filtered lake or creek water. The preferred site was the park’s west end, close to the earlier 1921-1923 dammed pool mentioned last week (near 2020s fore bay area.) Among early boosters were Irvin Erb, C.D. Pequegnat, Dr. E.D. Heist, Harold Ballantyne, Mayor W.P. Clement, Norman Schneider and other high-profile Kitchenerites. Organizations such as the YMCA, along with the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, also got behind the idea. The appointed Kitchener park board, which oversaw park properties and facilities, also gave a thumbs-up. City council was easily convinced to place a bylaw on the ballot in early December to raise $25,000 for the pool. After voters approved, the new 1930 council, also under Clement, gave final reading then appointed a swimming pool committee (SPC) composed of several aldermen and park board members plus Pequegnat as citizen representative. SPC was to finalize design plans, determine the exact site, build the pool in time for swimming in 1930 ... and stay within the $25,000 bylaw amount.

In the mix now were the SPC, the park board, the city engineer and Kitchener city council. Over the next few months add outraged Victoria Park neighbours, outside experts, the Ontario Railway and Municipal Board, not to mention several lawyers representing interested parties.

The SPC decided that a location extending from the west end of the pavilion toward the playground was better than the original site ... or maybe between the pavilion and the lake? ... perhaps in the park near the end of Henry Street? ... at Woodside Park? ... out Lancaster Street West on the electric railway line? ... in Kaufman Park? ... maybe at Bridgeport? Everyone — SPC, park board, council and residents — had ideas.

Anywhere in Victoria Park presented problems. As was soon discovered by city engineer Stanley Shupe, the park’s subsoil was virtually quicksand with a problematic water table. Park neighbours argued against choosing the pavilion site because of noise, unsightliness, Sunday swimming, parking and declining property values. Committee, board and council meetings turned from discussion to squabbling to personality clashes.

Tenders were called and awarded — then ignored, remaining unsigned. Obviously, there would be no construction in summer 1930.

A quick count finds that the controversy dominated over 30 meetings of SPC, park board and council between February and July. Then, in early July, Irvin Erb brokered a compromise — finally, construction was just days away beside the Victoria Park pavilion.

Alas, behind the scenes, the SPC and park board, moving in mysterious ways, had suddenly decided that Woodside Park on Queen South would now be the pool’s location. High-profile Kitchener industrialist and philanthropist, A.R. Kaufman, a park board and SPC member, was the quarterback. However, it was still a long time before swimmers could dive in.

That 10-month journey wraps up the Kitchener pool story next week.

DAVID WESTFALL. Four men, all now in the Hall of Fame were integral to Kitchener’s new swimming pool in 1929-1930. (Top Left) C.D. “Buller” Pequegnat, swimming pool committee member after spearheading citizens’ original campaign. Photo courtesy Waterloo Region Hall of Fame. (Top right) A.R. Kaufman, powerful in committees and beneficial with money. (Bottom right) Mayor William P. Clement sat on all three main bodies determining the pool site. (Bottom left) Irvin Erb, avid sportsman, seen in team uniform of 19-teens, was a tireless pool advocate.

RYCH MILLS COLLECTION Victoria Park’s 1924 pavilion was almost part of Kitchener’s swimming pool setup. Plans in 1930 called for the basement to house showers and dressing rooms for swimmers. The pool itself would have stretched from the camera position as far as the left end of the pavilion.