GOLDEN Square volunteers, residents, and pool visitors celebrated the successful Save the Pool campaign\u2019s 10-year anniversary over the weekend.<\/p>\n
To commemorate the achievement, the group held a free pool party with live music, food trucks, as well as speeches by members of the Save the Pool campaign and local politicians.<\/p>\n
An honour roll of volunteers from the decade and a timeline telling the pool\u2019s 100 year long story was also unveiled.<\/p>\n
In 2012 the City of Greater Bendigo looked to permanently decommission the swimming pool, but Golden Square residents came together to campaign to retain it.<\/p>\n
In the years since the group has gone onto save the pool from closure another two times in 2018 and 2020.<\/p>\n
Golden Square Pool president Sam Kane said it was a great effort to reach the 10-year milestone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen our pool was first saved in 2013, we were given just one year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team worked incredibly hard to make the pool compliant, and from that moment, it\u2019s gone from strength to strength.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are 255 volunteers, community partners and patrons all involved in the pool and Mr Kane said they are the reason the pool is still in use today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe place is unrecognisable today,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has become the centre of summer in our community, getting more popular every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cTen years on, our vision for what this place could become is a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linda Howell was part of the initial Save The Pool push and still volunteers there today. She said the facility and its community has meaning to her and her family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a second family here, you walk in and see all these people you know,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so much fun over the summer, the community is amazing and you come down with your kids and they play and grow up with the other kids here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since being saved in 2013 the Golden Square pool has had over 152,000 visitors come through their gates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GOLDEN Square volunteers, residents, and pool visitors celebrated the successful Save the Pool campaign\u2019s 10-year anniversary over the weekend. To commemorate the achievement, the group held a free pool party with live music, food trucks, as well as speeches by members of the Save the Pool campaign and local politicians. An honour roll of volunteers […]<\/p>\n