What was achieved!

Sorry about the quality. The photo was taken over 50 years ago. You are looking at it from an aeroplane over the river looking south. You can still see the farmland.

And if you have missed it, it's very possible that the below are on the let's-grab list.

Councillor thinks;"What a spot for a block of flats. Solid rock foundations - why, we could go as high as 6 stories.  I mean, how many people actually use the rowing club? Not many, I bet. And we would get a real good price for it to spend wisely."

Councillor muses, "Why, this one is even better. Look at the graffiti on it. We would be doing the community a favour if we built high rise here. It faces north, it is actually on the river bank and has great views - what a waste. Sea scouts and dragon boats, good heavens,  can they really stand in the way of progress??  And think of the money we would make."

Why stop there? Look at Paringa Park. Solid rock, right on the river bank, you could actually fish from it. 10 minute walk to town if you run like hell all the way. Very close to the Entertainment Centre. This is the jewel in the crown.

And what about this little beauty? This is the Husky Pool and we are doing a lot of development there. Look at the views - incredible! We can go to four and a half or five stories here. We could make millions.  And what is the point of have a pool near the ocean? Eh? Waste of time. No, the Husky pool is next. Give me one good reason why not.

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Sacrifices - how the pool was built

What a great real life community inspiration.

In the Shoalhaven and Nowra News April 1 1952 the front page headline read "Olympic Pool for Nowra only if the people will help themselves and build it". And so starts the story of the community sacrifices that were made to build Nowra Olympic Pool.

The end result was the Nowra Olympic Pool was opened in 1957, after an enormous outpouring of community donations and voluntary labour. In total over 5,000 pounds was raised by fundraising efforts which included fetes, dinners, shows, regular donations from pays, general donations, etc. A further 2,000 pounds is estimated to be from voluntary labour eg, for clearing of the site, digging the site ready for concreting, gardens, etc, although it is presumed this figure would be quite conservative as there would be a lot of community spirit and time given which is hard to place a value on. In addition, the Nowra Rotary Club took on raising funds for the children's pool which was a further 3,000 pounds. That's a total of 10,000 pounds in the 1950's. In today's dollars this equates to around $3 million, probably a lot more.

A community committee of 12 was set up to "carry out the construction and management of the pool"¹. Four sites were inspected, with the current riverbank site being the preferred site voted on at the public meeting in April 1952.² "Additional land was also acquired nearby to give nearly 7 acres for good pool setting in beautiful parkland"³.

[Beautiful parkland indeed - never looked after ....rats, foxes, wild pigs, mosquitos, flies, fire hazards, dumping ground for commercial rubbish, weeds.....]

With the site chosen, the committee then set about calling for "practical support"⁴ in the form of materials, machinery, labour and donations. Donations asked for could have either been a straight out donation, a weekly collection among a group of employees or monthly donations from pay, and functions with the proceeds going to the pool committee. There were also other donations of machinery, materials and labour.

The flavour of articles in the Shoalhaven and Nowra News in 1952 clearly shows without doubt that the community decided it wanted the 50m Olympic pool in Nowra and it was up to the community to come up with the voluntary contributions, material and labour if the pool was to be built. A Ladies Auxillary committee was set up under the pools committee for raising funds for the pool which was hugely successful.

The newspaper then shows generally on a weekly basis a list of donations over the next few years coming through from individuals, staff, etc. Many of these names are still familiar today. The list is too long to mention here, but please take a look below for a sample of donations.

As well as the regular donations and individual donations, over the next few years a range of fundraising events were held, eg, dances, cabaret, fetes, plays, flower shows, Shoalhaven Festival, etc, with the proceeds going towards the construction of the pool. The list of fundraising events can only be described as an extraordinary community effort.

In the end, even despite the huge outpour of community funds and labour, still enough money had not been raised. Financial assistance came from Council in the form of a loan for 15,000 pound to be repaid by funds from the Olympic Pool Rate⁵

^{[This was not a gift from Council - the rates went up to pay for it - so the community continued to pay.]}

A grant was also received from NSW Public works for 10,000 pounds.⁶ It was also acknowledged that Council played a pivotal role in the project.

On November 26 1957 the Public Works Minister officially opened the Nowra Olympic Pool. He stated "I also wish to take this opportunity of congratulating as well the local Olympic Pool Committee for its efforts in raising an amount of 5,000 pounds towards the cost of building the pool. The enthusiasm of voluntary workers always deserve the fullest recognition and appreciation. Also the Nowra Rotary Club must be commended in providing the necessary funds for the children's wading pool, as its project for the year. The Rotary's action amply demonstrates its confidence in the town and the desire to help and give facilities to young children".⁷

The president of the pool committee said at the official opening "So there is the story of the pool. A perfect example of community effort. An example of self help inciting outside support. A pattern which is being copied in many towns throughout New South Wales to-day. There are many more things to be done. Let us seek them with determination tempered with understanding - let us approach them with strength through unity. Then the day will come when the name of the Shire of Shoalhaven is mentioned, we will hold our heads high with pride, knowing we played our part in its development."⁸

^{[What do we do now? Hang our heads in shame at the way the Councillors are trying to snatch this from the community? Or do we tell them - it's not your ****** pool to sell - it's ours!]}

The above is a brief story of the sacrifices made by the community to build Nowra Pool. It is by no means an exhaustive list of activities but a summary for information. The information is taken from Shoalhaven and Nowra News newspaper articles dated from April 1 1952 - November 26 1957.

Attachment A - Olympic Pool Committee - Subscription List

The following list has been compiled from various Shoalhaven & Nowra News articles commencing July 1 1952. It is only a small sample but gives an indication of some of the donations received for the construction of the Nowra Pool that were reported in the Shoalhaven and Nowra News at the time. I have not included the amounts.

Here are a few references for those interested to look up at the library - they are keyed above.