excavated

Crowd at the swimming pool ca. 1910

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Officially opened in 1916, Ithaca Pool clocks up 104 years in Brisbane’s swimming history on the 21st of October this year, 2020. Nestled in Neal Macrossan Park at 14 Caroline St., Ithaca Pool is a far cry from the days of old when it was an excavated hole in the ground. Improved over the years and undergoing a multi-million dollar refurbishment in 2011, the locals are proud to have this inviting escape from Brisbane’s heat in their own backyard. In the early years of Brisbane, a dip in the river was primarily for hygiene purposes. Not without peril, the colonials faced the fear of drowning or shark attack. From 1857 shark-proofed floating baths were established by town councils along the river. The Paddington Cemetery Act was passed in 1911 by Queensland Parliament, which authorised the government to resume the burial grounds and relocate the remains to another site. Around this time the locals took advantage of a cleared space on the northern side of the cemetery and fashioned a pool of sorts. It was little more than a rudimentary pit filled with water pumped from the Brisbane River. It was a great boon for Paddington, although sometimes not the most desirable place to cool off. Behind the scenes, to keep the river water suitable for swimming, chlorine was poured into a holding tank and then pumped into the pool. Raising unpleasant memories for locals from the era, the water was often murky and odorous. In January 1928, a Letter to the Editor of the Brisbane Courier mentioned the pool was in such terrible condition that they suspected someone had thrown a dead cat or rat into the water. After recommendations in 1940 by a health committee, City Council installed a water filtration plant as an experiment at Ithaca Baths. The process removed the sediment and made the water fit for public bathing. Fresh town water soon replaced the suspect supply from the polluted Brisbane River. In 1942, the Chairman of the City Council Health Committee announced in the Courier-Mail Brisbane that…”Ithaca municipal swimming pool is to become the show baths of Brisbane.” (The Courier-Mail Brisbane Tue 27 October, 1942, page 2 ) Plans were approved to build new dressing rooms and toilets at an estimated cost of £1800. The article also stated that the galvanised iron fence surrounding the baths be replaced with a wire fence, so people passing could watch swimmers in the pool. Source: www.jonzunlee.com.au/2020/10/15/hidden-gem-in-paddington-...