The Suncrest Plunge Swimming Pool - 1928 -1938
The Plunge – the Suncrest Pool 1928
A meeting of Suncrest, Inc. was held March 1928, where the possibility of a pool was first discussed. W.S Jenkins, Sr., Appropriation Chairman, said that Barney Cornelius would be put in charge of the construction. The pool would be located near the corner of Juanita Lane and Park Drive. Memberships were sold for $5 per family to raise money for the project with volunteer labor doing the actual digging. Mildred Black Zimmerman recalled, “When the hole was started for the swimming pool, everyone who had a pick or shovel showed up to help along with the skip loader. Subscriptions and lifetime memberships were sold to the pool to pay for the material used.” Notes from C.E. and Annie Hoover’s Laffalot Lodge log book comically stated that “On June 10, 1928, family and friends initiated the new swimming pool by taking their annual bath.” The caretaker in 1933 was Harry Bole.
Many articles were written
about the fun times at “The Plunge.” Beverly Jenkins Nerbonne recalled, “When we went to the pool we had to go through an area to wash our feet, cause who would think of wearing shoes in the summertime. But we also had bee or wasp stings on our feet. A good coat of mud applied to the bite would take the stinger out and all would be okay.”
“The Plunge” had its own set of rules:
- Card holding members pay 10 cents; without cards – 25 cents
- All swimmers are required to wear bathing caps or equivalent
- Regular bathing suits and trunks are permitted
- Wearing of bathing suit rolled down is not permitted
- Children under 5 years of age are permitted the use of the small pool with no charge
- Night swims are counted as additional swims
Ralph Donovan was the maintenance man and caretaker for Suncrest, Inc. water system, swimming pool, and roads in 1937 and 1938. Dorothy Miller, Ralph Donovan’s daughter wrote, “Whenever it was pool cleaning time, he invited all the dogs on the hill to come over for a swim. Many years of fun were had at the pool for over a decade.”
The pool, however, eventually proved to be a very controversial subject. When water became scarce, the Suncrest pool was criticized for wasting water, a valuable resource. Someone reportedly poured concrete into the drains effectively disabling the system and put an end to the debate over “wasting” water to maintain a pool. In July of 1938, at a Suncrest, Inc. meeting, a proposal was made to close “The Plunge” due to the water shortage. A motion was eventually passed and in August of 1938, the pool was closed. The May 5, 1946 minutes disclosed that the swimming pool well had been filled in and the surrounding ground had been leveled off, thus ending the era of the pool on the hill.
