The Pool Myth
By Rajbir Toor
By Rajbir Toor
The Oxford Languages English dictionary defines a swimming pool as “an artificial pool [small area of water] for swimming in.” Pools are everywhere. Most of us have likely been to one of them, whether it’s in your backyard, a park, a resort, or a cruise- point is, pools are everywhere, even in some schools, but Sewanhaka doesn’t have one, right?… Or does it? On the roof?
To put it simply, no. Sewanhaka doesn’t have a pool on its roof (unfortunately). Sewanhaka’s “pool” was a story passed down across generations of students and faculty. Consequently, the idea has withheld a generational legacy, but it is ultimately a myth.
While the Sewanhaka pool in of itself is a myth, how the story began is rooted in some fact.
As Mr. Reece explained, “…the original designs of Sewanhaka High School included a pool, but during the school’s construction, the Great Depression hit. When FDR’s New Deal came into play… one of the many projects they had on their list was to finish the construction of Sewanhaka, but the pool was wiped out from the plans.”
Now Mr. Reece had this story passed down to him, and he told me to verify it in case he got anything wrong. While it is true that Sewanhaka once had a planned pool, the timing is what Mr. Reece got wrong; the pool wasn’t actually in the original plans of Sewanhaka, rather, the pool would have been constructed as part of a proposed sports and recreation center which got scrapped.
This information was revealed by Mr. Koscinski, who teaches the architectural CTE at Sewanhaka. He elaborated, “In 1944, Weterson Architects, who happened to design the original building, had developed plans for a health and recreation center. Those plans included a swimming pool in the basement.”
So Sewanhaka would’ve had a pool as part of the recreation center, but there was no Great Depression during the 1940s, so what intervened in the building’s construction? Ultimately, it had to do with the end of WWII. The end of wartime brought a population boom, and as a result, more space for schooling was required. Funding was subsequently reallocated into the inception and development of the other school’s in our district.
Also, Mr. Koscinski was able to show me the blueprints for the hypothetical athletic center (pictured below). However, he unfortunately did not have the ones showcasing the pool.
If you're still puzzled because you’ve seen that door in the science wing with “POOL” etched to its top, the writing can actually be chalked up as a homage to the myth itself, “…the maintenance department have continued the pool myth and legend by writing the word ‘pool’ where there are stairs showing you can get up to the roof” described Mr. Reece.
While it’s played an integral part of Sewanhaka’s history, the pool myth has begun to fade, especially in recent years. Less students are aware of it, but let’s try to keep the legend alive.
So if there’s one thing to take away from it, upperclassmen, nothing hurts in making a quick buck by selling a 7th grader a pool pass. After all, you’re inadvertently sustaining a decades-long tradition.