By Loretta McCarty
The familiar "build it and they will come" rallying cry was just one of many mantras used by the volunteers of Saratoga Woods to help turn their community dream of a new pool into a reality.
Their old pool--while adequate by 1959 standards, when it was built--was too small, only 19.3 yards long and three lanes wide.
Concerned members who wanted to create a better facility and enlarge the pool to a regulation 25 yards and five lanes brought an expansion plan to their eight-member board last year.
The idea wasn't a new one and had failed for one reason or another for the past 30 years, according to club member Roberta Witte.
However, the new membership, who saw it as a long-term investment in their children, overwhelmingly approved the pool's expansion on Labor Day of last year.
The neighborhood community wasted no time in pooling their resources and began making plans for what could have proved a daunting challenge to a less dedicated group.
Mark LaFarge, an engineer who said he has some construction experience, spearheaded the operation. Fred Fritsinger, a pool builder himself, came up with an economically feasible plan that would cut down on demolition and excavation requirements, and Chris Wilde led volunteers in building a new pump house.
The $160,000 pool was funded by member donations, an existing capital-improvement dues fund, and a small loan, according to board member Lisa Fry.
From the army of volunteers who helped pour the plaster to the moms who restrapped 50 chairs, many people pitched in to ensure the pool was ready for the 1996 swim season.
The Saratoga Woods Dolphin swim team began swimming in the new pool on May 17, practicing flip turns and dives in all five lanes.
"We could have put in six lanes," Witte said, "but we wanted everyone to be able to enjoy the pool."
The shallow end is reserved for children who are just learning the ways of the water, and the middle lap lane acts as a buffer zone between the deep diving end and the shallow play area, Witte said.
"Expanding the pool was a real community effort of all ages," Fry said. "We all love it, even the older members who said they thought the project would never get done."
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, July 24, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved