Remember the days of being a kid in summertime? Riding your bike to meet friends with a beachtowel slung across your shoulders, doing cannonball contests off the diving boards, and eating a cool ice cream treat at the 3:00 pool break?
Ahhh, the good old days!
History of the Cascade Community Pool
In Cascade, our swimming pool has been a staple in the community for decades. Built in 1967, the pool provided over 50 years of summer fun for the locals as well as lifesaving swimming lessons for hundreds of children, healthy summertime recreation, and attraction for visitors to our city. The pool served us well in that timespan; however, in recent years, it became obvious that the pool’s yearly maintenance wasn’t enough and a major repair job was necessary. But instead of a patch, a few local visionaries a came together to rally the community for something else entirely.
Wave of the Future Campaign
Bring in, the Cascade Wave of the Future campaign. Established in early 2018, the Wave committee dedicated an immense amount of time and effort to exploring funding and rallying support for the construction of a new pool in Cascade.
With their help, they were able to communicate the importance of small town pools as community gathering places and communicating the vision for the new structure to be a pool:
- where grandparents, siblings, and friends make memories;
- with no limitations on accessibility for all mobility levels;
- where children and adults can learn the necessary water safety skills;
- where outdoor exercise and health are celebrated by residents of all ages.;
- displaying the City’s commitment to continual self-improvement and educating future generations on water safety.
With the goal of completing the pool for the 2020 swimming season, there was a fundraising challenge due to the fact that the total cost of the pool is expected to be $3,587,000.
But through generous in-kind donations by local small businesses (building materials, stone, concrete, professional services, volunteer labor), State grants, a public bond issue, City contribution, and a robust capital campaign, funds were secured in early 2019 and plans for the actual build could commence. All gifts and contributions of every size have been vital to the success of this ambitious project, something that begins with the effort of the Wave of the Future committee.
Building the NEW Cascade Community Pool
Groundbreaking for the new pool began in the fall of 2019 in the same location of the original. As soon as the water was drained, contractors and crews came in to demo the original concrete structure and begin moving dirt to make way for the new.
Thanks to mild weather through the fall and winter months of 2019-2020, the project stayed on track and crews continued to work on excavating, grading, pouring, running lines, and building the dream of the community.
Our MES crew began work on the new pool in December to provide electrical planning and installation of the various electrical needs of the new building and pool. Throughout those months, our crew was at the site intermittently as-needed. But in spring 2020, the project was operating at full-speed, and we were consistently on the jobsite. From using our Ditch Witch underground boring system to connect lines into City utilities to installing fixtures and receptacles in the bathhouse to placing lightpoles for the parking lot, our crew was instrumental to the project.
Thanks to all the contractors and hardworking men and women on this project, the new Cascade Community Pool is on track to open in June 2020 and provide a place for kids, families, and community members to make memories for decades more.
At McAllister Electrical Services, one of our favorite parts of being a small business in a small town is the ability to give back. From donating to local events and fundraisers, serving on local boards, and working on projects for nonprofits like the Cascade Wave of the Future, we can directly impact life in our small town.
McAllister Electrical Services 