Pool work has kids back in the swim

SWIM SCHOOL: Pupils in National Park are grateful their pool is back in action.

After five years and about $90,000 National Park School has a functioning pool once more.

Pupils were able to swim last Monday in the relined and refurbished pool. And that success was due to a lot of planning, and assistance in both materials and volunteer labour started by the school's board of trustees and completed by the community and other helpers.

The school's 51 pupils can now not only cool off this summer but take part in the aquatic programme through Swimming New Zealand.

Principal Jane Welburn said the pool refurbishment had been a long time coming with planning starting at the end of 2014 and work beginning last Easter.

She said the revamp of the pool and surrounds was worth about $90,000 with a new $40,000 liner and the rest made up of other materials, volunteer labour and donated goods.

The pool had been unused because it needed the new liner. The school's board of trustees funded a new one under its annual property programme.

The pool will be open to the National Park community next week. It will also be used for youth water polo and a number of other activities.

Miss Welburn told the Ruapehu Bulletin that "back in April last year, the pool was used as a storage place for junk, there were leaks in the roof, the garden was a jungle and the building facilities were in a state of disrepair. The pool, which had once been at the heart of the community, was in need of some serious TLC.

"It has been a fascinating journey with lots of people coming to tell us about their experiences as children learning to swim there," she said.

It's possible the school now has the country's top pool. At an altitude of 825m it's up there.