On the final day that the Grand Junction Municipal Pool is open will also be a special fundraiser as the amenity is celebrating a milestone birthday.

Co-organizer Juanita Gilley says hamburgers and hot dogs will be served tomorrow from 11:30am-1pm for a free-will donation right in front of the main entrance to the pool, as the structure is 60 years old. A Grand Junction native Alan Robinson, who is the Grand Junction Library Director, was ten years old when the pool first opened in 1965. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio he spent several summers at the pool through his junior high school years and eventually became a lifeguard when he was in high school and partially in college.

When the pool came up for a public vote in May of 1964, Robinson points out that there was community-wide support for the $75,000 needed to build it, as the vote passed 275 to 168. He notes that two individuals were instrumental on the Steering Committee for the pool, which included Dr. Steve Karber’s mother Mildred and Jan Scharingson’s dad, Jack Carter. Robinson adds that he is not at all surprised that there continues to be support from the community to keep improving and maintaining the pool, as Grand Junction is one of if not the smallest community to have such an asset. 

Gilley adds that the pool will be open from 1-6pm tomorrow, before it closes for the season.