Demolition began last week on the old Callaway swimming pool, and a week from now it is expected to all be gone. That will make way for the town’s new pool, with construction set to begin immediately following demolition.

In May 2022, the village began the process after learning they had been approved for a grant to help plan and design a new swimming pool in the community. Lawrence Paulsen serves on the citizen's committee that researched the cost and design of constructing a new pool, and that now oversees its construction. The other members of that committee are Abe Hinman, Brenner Beavers, Carla Kimball, Henry Moore, Irelyn Rosfeld, Kendra Meyer, and Lori Pandorf. Paulsen said the town’s current pool was built in 1972 and had reached its life expectancy.

In July 2022, the proposed project was unveiled to the community. Not only will the new pool have modern updated aquatic features but it will also be ADA-compliant with a zero-depth entry which will expand the pool’s surface area. By doubling the pool’s capacity from 100 to 200 people, the committee feels the pool will meet current and future community population growth.

A series of informational meetings and forums were conducted between July and October, and in November the citizens of Callaway showed their support for the project by passing a requested bond not to exceed $4 million for the project. Paulsen has said all along that the committee would conduct various fundraising efforts and apply for grants to help offset that cost.

“The Community Foundation told me they have about $94,000 in donations right now from various fundraising events,” said Paulsen. “We have already set the bond at $2.5 million out of the $4 million we had available, so I don’t know how much more we might have to go get. We are still working on getting some more grants, and Amber (Harrison, Village Economic Developer) just sent out two more applications last week so hopefully we get those.”

Additional fundraising events may be coming within the next few months. Paulsen said that once the demolition of the current pool is completed there will be a lot of water testing done. “We’ve got really high groundwater right now because of all the rain, so hopefully that won’t slow things down,” he said.

For the most part, the footprint of the new pool will be very similar to the old one. The new pool will be located slightly to the east of the existing pool site and the deep end of the pool will now be located on the south end. The zero-depth entry will be in the northwest corner.

“It’s only a few feet longer than the old pool and the swimming area is basically the same width,” Paulsen explained.

The pool committee conducted a fundraiser by sending out letters to Callaway alumni, and Paulsen said he was rather disappointed by the lack of response. “The committee is now going to have to come up with more ideas and activities to come up with the funds,” he added.

The target completion date for the new pool is May 26, 2024.