The first UNH outdoor pool opened on August 19, 1938, to much local fanfare. One of some 200 WPA pools built in the wake of the Great Depression, it was the last still in operation when it closed at the end of 2013 after years of structural and environmental problems. For the past three summers, the UNH and Durham communities have watched a new pool emerge from inside the footprint of the original, alongside an expansion of the university’s Hamel Rec Center. Finished just in time for the fall semester, the new pool boasts many of the best-loved features of the original and adds a number of welcome new amenities: a bathhouse, a pool deck and heating and lighting that will allow it to remain open well into the school year. Some 1,800 swimmers showed up for the new pool’s official opening, which, in a nod to its precedessor, took place on August 19.
Originally published in UNH Magazine Fall 2016 Issue
Comment on this article.
