On Monday June 17, a post was shared into the Excelsior Citizen Facebook group from the Hall of Waters Visitor Center page. The post featured a picture of the empty pool in the basement of the Hall and asked citizens to share their pool stories in the comments. The post generated 200 comments (at time of writing) and numerous shares!
The pool in the Hall of Waters building is infamous. Whether someone is local to Excelsior or visiting, they seem to know about the pool, have heard a story about the pool, swam in the pool, etc.
The consensus from the comments was people who got to experience the pool in its prime can still vividly remember the smell of chlorine and the sounds of people screaming and having a great time! Pepper Renfrow-Gerstner shared, “No story; but just a vivid memory of the sound in this room…. the laughter and voices talking & screaming….it echoed off the concrete walls! It was sooo much fun! Funny how I can “hear” it right now!” Tonya Miller-Watson shared, “We would ride our bikes down there, stop at Clark’s market for some candy, go swimming. Head over to the library when it was downtown for a few books. Then Head home. Great memories.”
Multiple citizens also shared fond memories of dances taking place on top of the pool! A floor would be brought in to cover the water. One citizen remembered a prom and another a court warming dance.
In addition to fond memories being shared, many citizens questioned why the pool has been closed for so long and why it isn’t being restored. The unfortunate answer is the flood in ’93 ruined the filtration system in the pool. Insurance to re-open the pool is also too high due to the pool being in a flood zone. Luckily, Excelsior has two pools at the community center!
Excelsior has such a rich history. It is heartwarming to see citizens come together and share their fond memories made here. The Hall of Waters building in particular is special to a lot of people and a big part of that is the pool. Today the pool can be viewed from the floor above Monday-Friday during Visitor Center hours 10:00am-4:45pm.
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