Peoria's Central Park Pool by Jack M. Fuller, Superintendent of Planning, Pleasure Driveway and Park District of Peoria

Peoria's new Central Park Pool represents a significant milestone in cooperative planning to provide recreational services for the community. The Peoria Park District and the Peoria Public School District No. 150 worked together in planning and constructing this new facility.

An analysis of swimming pool attendance and maintenance costs for the existing Park District swimming facilities produced some new directions in satisfying the needs of Peoria residents. Formerly relying strictly on outdoor summer pools, the Park District was devoting an unusual amount of maintenance and effort to facilities that were used only twelve weeks of the year. The existing pools in the Park District were reaching their latter years of usefulness and steps toward rehabilitation or reconstruction were needed.

As a result of several years of meeting with school board members and other public and quasi-public agencies to discuss joint programs in recreation, the idea of a year-round pool facility available to two or more agencies was presented to the Park Board and School Board. The practicability of nine months of school use during the daytime and recreational use during the evenings, weekends and the summer months seemed to form the basis of a sound Park-School program. Such a facility would serve both agencies without duplication of cost.

A study was prepared by the Park District planning staff to determine the feasibility of such a facility and the need, type, size and method of funding.

One result of the study was the unquestionable site location adjacent to Peoria Central High School. Some years ago when George Alfs willed land for playground purposes to the children of Peoria, he had unknowingly provided the nucleus for the expansion of the Park-School plan which was now to include the pool site. Lying adjacent to the school and being located approximately in the center of the population area of 35,000 people with no neighborhood or community park area within walking distance, the Alfs property offered an ideal solution. A community park complete with a year-round swimming pool and the added benefits of a physical education and swim competition program for the school could be provided.

In 1967, both the Peoria Park Board and Peoria School Board agreed to study the possibility of a joint venture which has resulted in the recently completed Central Park Pool. It was determined that the Park District could more easily accomplish the design, construction, and management of the facility and through a lease agreement with the School District, could fulfill the program needs of both agencies.

To insure public acceptance and participation, a planning committee was formed consisting of local people interested in swimming. This committee determined the design criteria in relation to programming needs of both agencies. Then with the approval of the Park Board it proceeded to seek an architect who would be cognizant of the unique requirements of a year-round, indoor-outdoor swim facility. The committee continued to function in advising the park staff and the architect under the leadership of Robert W. Leu and Fred J. Tuerk, trustees of the Park District, and Robert Jamieson of the Peoria School Board.

A program was devised which would provide physical education use for the adjacent high school, competitive team use for several schools and also a complete recreational program designed to serve the entire city. The committee determined that competitive swim facilities in the district, other than for summer use, were definitely lacking. This new facility might well be used by a number of agencies and groups other than the Park and School districts. Based on these determined program needs, the design criteria was formulated.

Assisting in the technical design of the pool and accesseries was Alien B. Klingel, swimming coach at the University of Illinois, and Lloyd Hubbard, swimming pool consultant. The size of the physical education classes and the community area being served dictated that no less than eight lanes with a twenty-five yard length could fill the need. A constant depth instruction pool 56 feet by 75 feet, with a separate diving pool was determined to be the answer to Peoria's needs.

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The addition of a separate diving pool offered possibilities for greater use. Not only could a diving program be carried on while the main pool was being used, but the large pool basin could be held to a minimum depth for use on all four sides for teaching or recreation. Two one-meter and one three-meter boards were included. At this time in Illinois, three-meter competition is not a high school event, but Coach Klingel predicted that in a few years three-meter competition will be a part of the Illinois high school program. A minimum depth (3-1/2 feet to 4 feet) pool was agreed upon for ideal family use.

For the small children, a wading pool was designed on the outside south deck. It is available from both the inside and outside areas of the facility. The wading pool is intended to serve the neighborhood for summer recreational use only.

Recognizing that in the summer, swimmers favor outdoor pools with full sun, a spacious deck area is provided facing south and west with easy access to the pool area through large glass doors which can be kept open. Experience with outdoor pools indicated there should be twice as much deck area as pool area. Knowing also that deck space inside a large pool enclosure is expensive but necessary, a practical ratio of inside deck to outside deck was carefully studied. Eight thousand (8,000) square feet of deck was provided inside the building with seven thousand (7,000) square feet of outside deck space readily accessible through the sixty feet of glass door opening. This outside deck space has been carefully designed to be as attractive as possible, since a study of many existing facilities disclosed the lack of outside deck area to be the single most common factor restricting a sound year-round program. The idea of the indoor-outdoor relationship was strictly adhered to in all design considerations. The outside deck is enclosed with a decorative concrete wall which projects out from the footings and is elevated above grade to secure the area without the use of a fence.

The formidable problem of glare common to most glass enclosed pools has been minimized by outside overhangs and translucent plastic panels in the upper story of the structure. Adequate light is transmitted but a minimum of direct sunlight will strike the pool itself.

Great consideration was given to the problem of high humidity and corrosive conditions common to indoor pools. Approximately one-third of the construction cost is taken up with a ventilating system that controls the humidity and temperature and sweeps all wall and glass surfaces with conditioned air. A rapid turnover of air insures adequate control of any situation, according to Roy M. Conrad, chief engineer of the project.

The programming of the facility has been given thorough study and consideration by Coach Klingel and the park staff. The sharing of the construction costs by the Park and School districts necessitated a careful division of time allocation to each agency. With almost forty-five hundred (4,500) hours of use each year, physical education classes consume 1,600 hours, team workouts and meets require 650 hours leaving the remainder of the time for recreational and community uses.

Locker requirements for school and park programs vary, requiring flexibility in design. The school's physical education classes use standard 72" by 12" school type lockers with a padlock system while the Park District prefers a coin-operated system in two sizes: 12" square and 12" x 36" for adult and family use.

The spectator seating area is placed in a balcony above the locker rooms overlooking the pool area. Seating for 500 persons is provided with a set of folding bleachers which store against a wall making the space available for other uses. The seating capacity can be expanded to 700 with the addition of more folding units without using any deck space. Temporary seating will also be made available on the deck for the Missouri Valley Conference meet to be held in March.

Recreational programs start at 7:00 P.M. on weekdays and continue until 9:30 P.M. During these hours the pool is divided with five lanes being used for recreational and family swims, the other three lanes being programmed for competitive swim practice, adult swim instruction and specialty classes. A competitive 2-inch racing float is used to divide the pool. The diving pool can also be sectioned off so that a diving class and a synchronized swim class can be held at the same time. By programming the pool in this manner, maximum usage will be obtained.

On weekends one of the most popular times for recreational swims will be Sunday afternoon. Saturday afternoons will be used mainly for high school swim activities. Saturday mornings will be devoted specifically to a swimming and diving instruction for boys and girls of grade school age.

A unique feature of the recreational program will be the use of the all-volunteer guard from Peoria Central High School. These boys and girls, some 60 strong, form an honor group who are being highly trained by Jack Simon, the pool manager. On a volunteer basis, they will help in the daytime hours with the high school physical education classes, in recreational swims Monday through Thursday and as instructors for the Saturday morning instruction. The girls in the guard will also serve as timers and hostesses for the high school, college and A.A.U. meet scheduled at Central Park Pool.

The building was constructed at a cost of $960,000 exclusive of the value of the land. Central Park Pool was opened November 16, 1969 with dedicatory remarks by Congressman Robert H. Michel and Coach Klingel.

Members of the Citizens' Advisory Committee serving with Leu, Tuerk, and Jamieson on the project were: Dr. L. William Curtis, Arthur F. Szold, Raymond Fraser, Dr. Leonard Costa, James Welch and Roger Kelley.

Donald E. Ashley is president of the Peoria Park District and Jackson P. Newlin, president of the Peoria Public School District.

Illinois Parks 46 March/ April 1970