The old Glisson swimming pool was constructed in 1969.  For 39 summers, it has been an important part of the recreational component for the overall Glisson summer camp experience.  When campers come to Glisson each year, they have certain expectations for their week here. 

For example, our campers expect to:

• Experience God's presence in a very real way
• Go on a hike in the cool waters of Cane Creek
• Sing on the porch of the Dining Hall each evening after dinner
• Have camp counselors who serve as models of Christian discipleship
• Hike up to Mountain Top at least once
• Hear their counselors sing "Your Friend" to them at closing celebration on Friday night
• Meet other campers their age who are also learning and growing in their faith
• Eat more than their own shares of s'mores
• Camp-out under the stars at the Meadow and wake up covered in that good ole' mountain dew
• Laugh a lot and enjoy God's blessings in their lives
• Swim in a swimming pool which actually holds water ...

... and that's where you come in ...

When the Glisson swimming pool first opened in July of 1969, an announcement was published in the Wesleyan Christian Advocate which touted this new pool as having "space age features".  Space age features?  That may sound like a strange way to describe a swimming pool, but when you recall what was happening in the world at that time it begins to make some sense.

When the Glisson pool opened on July 17, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were orbiting the moon in the midst of their Apollo 11 mission.  Three days later, on July 20th, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon.  The space race was at its absolute pinnacle, and the entire world was watching those events.

For some of us, that event seems as if it occurred hundreds of years ago.  Ironically, it seems the Camp Glisson swimming pool has been around just as long -- and the truth is, it has been.

Here are some other events which occurred in 1969:

• The Brady Bunch first debuted on television.  Other notable TV show debuts from the same year include Sesame Street and Marcus Welby, M.D.
• The Mets won the World Series and the Jets won the Super Bowl.
• John Wayne won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role in True Grit.
• Ground was broken for a modest theme park in Orlando called Walt Disney World.
• Gasoline was sold at the pump for 32 cents-per-gallon.
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid opened in theaters nationwide.

When you consider that the average life span of a pool is 30 years, it is obvious ours out-lived its life expectancy.  This project became more of a "need" than a "want" during the summer of 2007 when a new, substantial leak was discovered.  It was the end of session #1 of summer camp when the leak was found -- in the pool supply line, which is underground. 

At that point, we had a decision to make.  We did not have enough funds on-hand at that time to consider replacing the pool.

Our first option was to drain the pool, dig-up the area of the pool under which the leak was identified, fix the leak and then attempt to repair the pool -- all the while hoping that we didn't cause additional problems by digging-up a 38-year-old pool.  This would have taken the pool out of commission for at least a couple of weeks, and would have cost several thousand dollars.  The resulting stress on that 38-year-old water line could have caused additional, even catastrophic, problems which could have taken it out of commission permanently.  There was no avoiding it -- this option would have meant many of our campers would not have been able to swim at all this past summer.

Our second option, the one we selected, involved keeping water in the pool for the summer -- even though we were having to replace several thousand gallons of water each week.  At that point, in May 2007, the drought here in Georgia had not yet reached extreme levels.  Severe watering restrictions were not in place, and we wanted our campers to have a pool in which to swim.  Although our campers during session #2 in early June had to swim in the creek for the first several days of camp while we drained the pool, investigated the leak and then re-filled it, we were able to keep the pool open for the rest of the summer.

Glisson campers deserve to have a new, non-leaky pool to enjoy during their summer camp experiences.

Earlier this year, with the prospect of a new pool on our horizon, we sought bids and design ideas for this project.  We wanted to be able to tell our donors exactly how much this project would cost and how the pool replacement would be implemented.  After reviewing the bids and design ideas submitted, Wilson Pools of Rydal, Georgia was selected to build our pool once funding was secured.  Lee Asbridge, Operations Manager of Wilson Pools and father of three Glisson summer campers himself, presented a unique design concept.

During all of our building projects over the past decade, we have attempted to include the gold mining tradition of the Dahlonega area in our building designs.  In our Village cabins, which are reminiscent of miners' shacks, you see steeply-pitched tin roofs, wooden plank floors and ceilings, as well as lighting fixtures which mimic the lanterns miners used to illuminate the dark mine shafts.  The design of the Bev and Tuck Jones Welcome Center and Ivie Lodge include large, round wooden beams and a similar tin roof design.  The Bob Cagle Program Center architecture resembles an old stamp mill, the facility where gold would be separated from ore by literally pummeling it with huge thousand-pound stamps.

Lee suggested that our new swimming pool and bath house can include some of these same features -- to continue building on that gold mining tradition of our area. 

First of all, the diving board stays!  Our campers love having a pool with a diving board, so we plan to keep that feature.  That has nothing to do with gold mining, of course, we just wanted to say it up-front so our campers can rest easy.

In addition to the diving board, the new pool will include:

• An exposed aggregate, Pebbletec(R) interior surface, giving it the "swimmin' hole" feel
• A natural, sandy-colored exterior deck
• Stairs which run the full length of both ends of the "T-shaped" shallow section, allowing for easier entry into and egress out of the pool, and also providing seating areas inside the pool for instructional time and casual pool lounging
• (the most exciting new feature for our campers) A slide in the deep end surrounded by natural boulders, giving campers the sensation of sliding off a mountain slope into the swimmin' hole

The existing pool serves as a "shell" for the new pool, meaning no earth needed to be moved to make way for the structure.  This eliminated the need for expensive demolition and debris removal, and also means no settling will occur with the new pool.  Every pool contractor who bid on the project indicated this process of building a "pool within a pool" is standard operating procedure when replacing an existing pool.

The total cost of replacing the Glisson swimming pool is $310,000.  Through early May, we have $273,664 on-hand -- representing 88% of our overall goal.  Our goal has always been to have campers swimming in this new pool in time for Summer 2008.  To make that happen, we knew construction would need to begin in December.  Camp Glisson has always maintained a philosopy of beginning construction projects only once the fundraising is complete, meaning the camp intentionally chooses not to acquire debt to complete capital projects.  We believe in being good stewards of our resources and our donor gifts.

Note:  The urgency of the major leak in the old pool required that we begin construction on this new pool prior to having all the needed funds on-hand.  Our donors have continued to support this project, but this leap-of-faith is a bit of a departure for Glisson from the normal process of waiting until 100% of funding has been secured.

Once the Health Department forced our hand on construction of the bath house, we are essentially completing this project without full funding.  As mentioned before, this is a departure from our normal process - but we are confident that the plan to proceed is the right way to be good stewards of our resources and our summer campers' experiences.

One of the frequently-asked questions we receive is, "How can a pool cost $310,000?"  The simplest answer is that this is a HUGE pool.  For the sake of comparison, the average back-yard residential pool holds 24,000 gallons of water.  This new Glisson pool will hold 160,000 gallons.  It is the size of 7 or 8 residential pools and more than three times the size of the typical neighborhood pool.

Because the pool is so large, nearly 400 feet of fencing is required to secure the area.  In addition, our plans include a bath house which will is being built by our Facilities Manager, David Stubblefield.  Our original bath house was clearly sub-standard and did not offer swimmers comfortable access to restrooms or showers while they were at the pool.  The new bath house serves as the entrance point for the new pool.  It will include modern showers to be used both by swimmers and by our Outpost campers each Friday as they get cleaned-up for our Friday celebration event.  It will also include a storage area for lifeguard equipment, dressing areas and a pump room.  This bath house will be a major improvement over our previous sub-standard bath house facility.

To make an on-line contribution right now to the Glisson Swimming Pool project, please click here.  For additional information on how you can support this project, contact our Development office at (706) 864-6181, or email Phil Dodson at developmentdir(at)campglisson.org.

Camp Glisson is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) organization.  Your gift is tax-deductible.