PORT ANGELES — It’s been a long time coming.
Twenty-eight years and five months, to be precise.
But on Saturday, Barb Gronseth will be on hand to see the first swimmers jump into the new pool at the Quillayute Valley Aquatic Center that she’s been trying to get built since 1977.
“I get goose bumps just thinking about it,” said Gronseth, board chair for the Quillayute Valley Parks and Recreation District.
“We’ve gone through a lot of defeats to get to this victory.”
The Aquatic Center features two pools and a large water slide for children.
The official grand opening ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
At 1 p.m., children and adults can take an inaugural dip for only $2.
While excited about its opening, Gronseth said these last few weeks have also been topsy-turvy crazy.
She is working closely with the pool’s manager, Jim Baird, to make sure everything is ready to go in time for the opening.
Seeds sown in 1977
The seeds for Forks’ first public swimming pool began in November 1977, when Gronseth and 11 others formed the Forks Pool Committee.
“After many discussions on how to fund a community swimming pool, the consensus was to form a parks and recreation district,” says a district document narrating how the swimming pool came to be built.
After voters approved the formation of the parks and recreation district, U.S. Forest Service land was deeded in 1979 on the condition that it be used for a pool.
After many failed attempts to raise funds during the 1980s and ’90s, voters finally approved a $2.9 million pool bond in 2000.
It took another two years to raise the Aquatic Center’s start-up costs of $161,000, followed by three years for design and construction.
