Hillyard pool will be rebuilt at existing site

A new Hillyard Pool to be rebuilt under a voter-approved bond issue is going to have a free-form design and include features that will appeal to children and families.

The pool will retain some of the older style with six lap swimming lanes that are 25 yards long. A 1-meter diving board is in the plan.

Discussion about moving the pool to Harmon Park was shelved over opposition expressed by area residents. The pool will be rebuilt at its existing site at Columbia Avenue and Market Street.

The pool is included in a $42.9 million park and pool bond issue approved by voters last year.

The pool will be turned at an angle to the street, and landscaping is called for in the design to buffer the pool from adjacent streets.

Features include at least one and possibly two water slides, a beachlike entry suitable for small children, a bubbler and geyser play feature, a vortex pool area, room for instruction and other play features.

The vortex of moving, swirling water will be 15 feet in diameter.

If two water slides are built, one will have an open flume and the other an enclosed flume. A smaller child play area would have its own water slide and separate play features.