Plans are in the works to restore Bluffton's wooden "floating" swimming pool for public swimming, according to a group interested in the project. The photo accompanying this story shows the pool prior to its original launch in the Buckeye.
Although it's a little known fact to Bluffton residents today, the wooden pool, built in the late 1930s and used until very early 1950s, was sunk in the center of the Buckeye after the community constructed a swimming pool on the east bank of the Buckeye in 1955. Like the Titanic, lying on the ocean floor, Bluffton's wooden pool, sits on the bottom of the Buckeye, in its own time capsule.
Because it was constructed of native walnut and oak, the pool is in remarkable condition and will require basic repairs before it is open for the season in June.
"It's actually a marvel of construction based upon its age," says Don Schweingruber, a member of the group planning to raise the pool. Schweingruber checked out the structure with underwater cameras earlier this spring and was amazed at what he saw.
A meeting of residents interested in supporting a fundraiser to pay for renovation of the wooden pool is planned, Sunday, April 1, at the Buckeye park shelterhouse.
