Timaru Swimming Pool As Centennial Memorial

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28728, 28 October 1958, Page 12

Timaru Swimming Pool As Centennial Memorial

Embodying the latest developments in construction but introducing a completely new concept in design, the £66,000 swimming pool to be built at Caroline Bay, Timaru, to mark the South Canterbury centennial next year, will be the most modern pool in the country. A scale model of the pool aroused great interest at the final session of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association’s conference in Christchurch yesterday, and the architect (Mr P. J. Beaven) was called on to answer delegate’s inquiries. The pool will be on the bay front, immediately below Marine parade. It will be clearly visible from many parts of the city. The president of the South Canterbury Swimming Centre (Mr J. R. Fraser) said the pool was the result of a great deal of research. Visits had been made to all the major pools in the country, he said, and the best ideas had been gleaned from them and incorporated in the Timaru design. The main problem facing the South Canterbury Swimming Centre was to endeavour to construct a covered pool without running into the high figures encountered at pools such as the Centennial Pool in Christchurch. Mr Fraser said the completed plan made no pretence to present a monument, but that it would last for at least 50 years. No Very Deep End

Many pools in New Zealand had been out of date before they were completed, Mr Fraser said. One of the recent concepts of pool design was to have no very deep end, but to have a separate pool for divers. This meant that a pool could toe covered cheaply, because the roof did not have to be carried over a high diving tower, and maintenance costs were greatly reduced by the shallower pool. , In its original form, the pool will accommodate 1000 spectators on reinforced concrete seating and the dressing accommodation will cater for 100 men and women. The walls of the new pool are also radical. Almost entirely of glass, the light roof will be supported in the middle by a steel girder and at the front by Australian hardwood pillars which form the frames for the windows. The glass extends from floor to roof at the front and side of the building, allowing the maximum sunlight. Some delegates to the conference suggested there might be difficulties through the hardwood warping with the condensation, but experiments already carried out have indicated that this will be no problem. The glass windows slide behind one another so that swimmers can walk into the garden which is planned for the front of the pool. The curving roof will aid in the air conditioning of the pool, and ventilators will ensure there is no trapping of warm air under the roof. The roof will be of

■troughed aluminium. The aluminium used on the walls will be permanently coloured aluminium. A learners’ pool and diving pool are planned to be built on ground adjoining the building. May Be Extended The tepid and filtered pool will be 110 ft by 55ft, and a wall at one end is designed so that it can be lifted out and the whole building extended. The pool will be 3ft deep at the shallow end and only 14ft 6in at the other. One of the most modern features of the design is that the water will be level with the concrete surround of the pool. Thia is believed to be one of the greatest advantages for teaching young children to swim, since they do not have to strain to maintain their hold ps they do in the welled pools. The scum channels are set in the concrete pool surround. Plans for raising funds are at present in hand and a considerable sum has already been promised. If the finance is available readily, the building may be completed late next year. “Of course it must be realised the pool is only one of three projects to mark the centennial, and it will take its place along with the Trinity Hall and Museum projects,” Mr Fraser said last evening. “If the response to the Queen Carnival appeal only a fortnight ago is maintained, I have no doubt that the target of £150,000 for the centennial projects will be reached at an early date.”