NEWS

A photo of The Swimming Hole earlier this week.

While most folks know about the iconic Davidson Swimming Hole, how many have heard about the updates that are coming to the site?

The Swimming Hole was built in 1962, in the middle of a residential neighborhood off Lorimer Road. The pool is 80 feet long and 40 feet wide, with depth ranges from 4-12 feet. It sits on a combined 2.8 acres that is divided into four parcels. The existing “club-lodge” concrete block structure is listed on the county tax records as having 496 square feet of finished area.

For more than six decades Davidson families have been making memories at The Swimming Hole. Swimming Hole Board President Glenn Prillaman highlighted their Mission and Core Beliefs as an integral part of the history. That’s right, the Swimming Hole has a mission statement and core beliefs.

Little has changed in the 62-year history, and it is still billed as “a nostalgic family pool experience in Davidson, N.C.” And while some might use the current 2-3 year waiting list as a measure of continued success, members and board leadership knew they needed to make some changes. So, several years ago, they began “reimagining” what the swimming hole could look like in the future.

Prillaman shared the following:

“Our Board believes nostalgia must remain synonymous with our pool; but old, out-of-date or inoperable must not be part of our offering. We believe change must be well-managed. That is why we, as a membership & Board, carefully walked together through our process:  a process approved by membership vote — and a super-majority therein. Our attitude as Board has been to protect & preserve while addressing what we and membership believe must eventually be addressed. We spent years asking questions like, “If so, why not now?” “…why not us?” It has been fun to challenge ourselves as a Board and membership with the belief, “To know and not to do, is not to know.” 

In October 2023, representatives from The Swimming Hole brought their concept to the Town Design Review Board (DRB) to start the process to get approval for their reimagined concept. Since then, various iterations of the proposal have been reviewed by members of the DRB.

The architectural team at Odell/La Bella Associates created a plan that brings a mid-century modern look to the proposed design.

At the most recent Design Review Board on July 17, members of DRB voted that the plan submitted meets the standards of the Town ordinance. Two notations were made before the vote was taken – one was that the structure would feature board and batten vs. stucco as had appeared in one of the presentations and, and two, the pavilion would have glulam vs. steel beams.

While the plan is a dramatic reimagination of The Swimming Hole, there is very little change to the overall layout as can be seen in the diagram below. There is a small expansion of the pool deck, but notably there will be a new accessible path into the facility.

“We have much work ahead over the coming months. It has been a long journey to get where we are today on the cusp of breaking ground. We only know what we know at this time about completion of the project. The Town’s officials have been exceptionally helpful. Layton’s Tree Service, G&G Landscaping and Carolina Land Consultants have provided wonderful work and counsel. Our architect in particular, Michael Montgomery from Odell/LaBella, who has also designed the new Davidson College football stadium, has been an invaluable partner. All understand what the Swimming Hole is — and importantly, is not. Every member’s financial contribution is accompanied by careful consideration by our Board. We are now in the capable hands of a local builder, John Shryock at Artisan.”

Construction is slated to begin in October and to wrap up by April 2025, just in time for the start of the next season of making memories at The Swimming Hole. They will also undertake a major capital campaign next spring, the first such campaign of its kind.

The full plan can be viewed here.

As an aside, if you have never attended or watched a Design Review Board (DRB) Meeting, please think about doing it. The Town is preparing to open registration for the various Advisory Boards in September. To learn more about the DRB and the other Advisory Boards, please visit the following site.