Atlanta Daily World

Home Pools Continue
To Make Big Splash

"Come on in - the water's fine" is a happy shout once heard only at beaches and the ol' swimmin' hole. But today the same call to pleasure is being heard in back yards as more and more homeowners install their own swimming pools.

"A pool used to be an expensive luxury that only the very rich could afford, but today, with a 16 x 32 foot pool available for approximately $3,500, a swimming pool is within almost every homeowner's reach," according to pool manufacturer Wallace H. Kruse.

Kruse is president of General Pool Corp., Addison, Ill., the nation's largest manufacturer of fiberglass residential pools. Sold under the Cadillac brand name, General's pools will become available in the Atlanta area in August.

Kruse noted that home swimming pools are increasing in number for several important reasons, in addition to lower prices:

1. Many natural swimming areas, such as beaches near lakes and rivers, are being closed because of water pollution.

2. The existing public swimming facilities, including beaches and municipal pools, are becoming crowded as population increases.

3. Home ownership continues to mount, which means more people have the back yard space for a pool.

4. Leisure time is increasing which gives people more time to enjoy swimming in their back yard.

The result is that back yard pools are being installed at the national rate of 36,600 a year, Kruse reported. Today there are 248,000 home swimming pools, compared to only 2,500 residential pools in 1948. The prospects are for continuing increases in the rate of back yard pool installations.

"Pools make sense not only because they enable a family to enjoy swimming in privacy but because they enhance the beauty and value of the property," Kruse said.

One of the biggest breakthroughs in bringing down the cost of home swimming pools is the development of the molded fiberglass and concrete pool. Kruse said that General pioneered this development in 1959 and currently is taking orders at the rate of $10,500,000 a year.

General makes molded fiberglass sidewalls in its four plants (three near Chicago, one near Giddings, Tex.) and ships these to local dealers. The dealer excavates the pool site, puts up the fiberglass sides, pours a reinforced concrete floor and deck, installs all fittings, and backfills the pool.

"Four men can complete a pool in three days after the excavation is completed," Kruse said.

Because of the fiberglass construction, the pool can be of any shape desired without any cost difference. This enables the homeowner to have a free-form or kidney shaped pool for the same price as a rectangular one.