The History of Swimming at The Pond
How The Nature Place’s Beloved Swimming Hole has Transformed from Pond to Pool to ‘The Pond’ Over the Years
By Scott Dunn, Director of Programming
Our beloved swimming hole that we affectionately call “The Pond” has quite a history. Using a word from nature, The Pond has gone through a unique metamorphosis over the many years of use as a place to cool off and swim. The farmland where The Nature Place Day Camp now calls home was purchased by an Anthroposophical group in 1926 as a place to grow vegetables for their vegetarian restaurant in NYC. The community developed through the early years from a a working farm, into the Threefold Educational Foundation. In 1985, The Nature Place Day Camp planted our roots.
In the 1940’s, the existing spring-fed farm pond was divided into two ponds. One left to nature and one designed for swimming. On one end a concrete retaining wall, complete with a pad for a diving board, was installed. On the far end an earth berm was created to divide the one existing pond into two. This berm, along with the longer deep end edge was reinforced with rough concrete. The bowl of The Pond was shaped with the bottom tapering gently to create a long, shallow entry for the beach. Stone retaining walls were built into the hillside creating two terraced beach areas.
By the time I arrived here in 1990 there was a minimalist system to keep the water circulating. Beach sand had been trucked in covering the beach and bottom of The Pond. Even though the water was chlorinated it still had the appearance of a pond visibility-wise. We could not see the bottom and our lifeguards and staff had to practice search and rescue drills to be prepared for the possibility of missing swimmers. Periodically during the summer, we needed to use a big pump to transfer the sand, which collected on the bottom of the deep end, back up onto the beach.
A few years later an industrial grade pool liner was installed on the bottom of The Pond and we built a step/retaining wall along the shallow end beach to anchor the liner and minimize the amount of sand that would end up on the bottom. As times changed, the diving board was no longer suitable with regard to safety. At this point, we also upgraded the filtration/chlorination system and The Pond officially transformed into a swimming pool with crystal clear water. In 2016, renovations continued — including a new liner for the shallow end along with a new concrete step/retaining wall incorporating into it a new filtration system.
Major upgrades aside, The Pond transforms every season. After we are done swimming for the summer, the pumps and chlorinators are turned off. Leaves fall in, algae blooms turning the water green, and our swimming pool goes back to looking like a natural pond. When springtime comes the work kicks in. We pump all the water out, sweep, shovel, power wash, and clean out all the winter’s collected debris. Any repairs or upgrades are completed and a fresh coat of paint goes on. Fresh sand is brought in and spread on the beach. Then, when all is ready, our dedicated well is turned on to fill us up and the filters and chlorinators take over to keep the fresh water clean and clear. A lot of hard work goes into keeping The Pond a wonderful, inviting community swimming hole.
For the entire history of The Nature Place, swimming has been at the center of our camp program. This unique facility, besides being beautiful, has proven to be such an advantage for teaching our campers. The gentle entry into the water is inviting and safe for the little ones and the overall size and extent of the deep end give us so much flexibility for developing older camper’s advanced skills. Everyone loves The Pond. It is such a great place to swim.
See you at The Pond!