In honor of her husband John, Jean Curtis and family cut the ribbon at the Oxford Pool re-opening ceremony on June 19 located behind the Oxford Academy Primary School in Oxford. (Photo by Kelli Miller)

OXFORD — The Oxford pool celebrated their re-opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony held on June 19.

The Oxford pool is located across from the Oxford Academy Primary School at the corner of West Park Street and Grays Heights Road.

Town Board member Ron Charles kicked off the ceremony and said, “This is a 44-year-old pool, originally it opened in 1975. So, we started working with a couple of firms to see what it was going to be, which way we were going to go and I contacted someone who wants to remain anonymous and asked them about a possibility about donating to the project.”

“They listened to the presentation and came back to us with a very substantial donation and they were committed to making this project work. From there we were committed to go with the renovation and contacted Delaware Engineering out of Oneonta for the design and specs and overall project,” he added.

Charles said they ended up going with the general contractor Aqua Concept out of Whitney Point. The onset of COVID brought delays but they worked through and worked hard to hopefully get the pool open last year but here finally they were happy to reopen this year.

“There’s a few individuals I’d like to recognize because they’re the ones that really made this project successful. I’d like to long time supervisor Lawrence Wilcox; he committed to this project in his last term of office,” he said.

“Another key person is long time pool director Pat Moore. Pat had oversight of this project from the beginning to the end. He was right there with challenges and decisions that had to be made. His input on the entire project was invaluable,” said Charles. “Pat made a decision to retire from his teaching career and along with that he turned the reins over to our new pool director Clayton Kappauf.”

Charles then turned the ceremony over to an Oxford resident who he said was very passionate about keeping the pool open; she stepped up and took over the fund raising right from the beginning.

In announcing Sarah Smith, Charles said, “Because of her efforts and the generous donations from our community this half million dollar project was completed without any additional property tax levy.”

Owner and artist of Gallery 3-2-1 and Norwich teacher Sarah Smith said, “There are two local foundations that made significant donations to this project, The Hickory foundation and the Mirabito foundation. Ramona Mirabito, was a teacher at Oxford for over 31 years. She would be happy and proud of the success of this project.”

Smith then thanked Oxford resident and speech language therapist Terri Woodford for her contribution of over $700 by baking and selling her pies to the Oxford Academy staff in the Fall of 2021.

Smith also thanked the trustees of the greater Oxford community fund, Mary and David Emerson, Linda and Neil Bartle and Bonnie and Tom Emerson who she said have proven by making the investment in the greater Oxford area, they are improving life for children and its residence.

“At the beginning of this project, I set a goal of 50,000 for the community members, and this amount was almost doubled by the generous donations from former members and current members of the community. I’d also like to recognize the donations from local organizations like Rotary, the Masonic Lodge and the Lions Club. These groups always support us first and always donate and volunteer their time when needed,” Smith added.

Lastly, she thanked the local businesses of this community who contributed almost $100,000 to the project and as a small business owner, she said; that’s a lot of money. A plaque naming the donors is on the entrance wall to the pool.

Jean Curtis was asked to cut the ribbon for the ceremony. Jean’s husband was John Curtis; the pool director for almost 30 years.

“I worked for John Curtis while I was a lifeguard,” Smith said. “I actually didn’t seek employment here, he simply told me to show up and I was now a lifeguard at the Oxford pool. And then it took him ten years to get rid of me.”

Smith thanked everyone for contributing to the project and unwavering support and hoped everyone enjoyed the event and invited all to enjoy the ice-cream provided by the Lickety-Split ice-cream truck.

Certified lifeguards have been hired and will teach swimming lessons under the supervision of head lifeguard Barb McNitt.

Oxford resident Brennan Finnegan is one of the lifeguards and had been working there for several years. She said she grew up going to the pool everyday all summer.

“It’s such huge part of our community and it holds such a special place in my heart. I’m so excited for it to be reopened and can’t wait to spend the summer there and enjoy the new updates,” Finnegan said.

Smith explained, “After the core samples were taken, it was proven that the walls of the original pool could hold a liner. This is the first liner the pool has had; the original was concrete. Initial costs for the core and gutter samples were funded by the Howard D. Brown Trust.”

The town of Oxford had paid over $40,000 to get the facility running in the past. The pool repairs and issues caused the pool to stay closed in 2019.

Smith said, “The original pool has been refurbished with a liner and new chlorine system, concrete, etc. We were lucky to be able to reuse such a wonderful pool, and it really speaks to how well the original was built. The bathhouse has also been updated.”

Terri Woodford said, “ Oh, i think it’s wonderful to have the pool reopened, we have happy memories, my kids all swam here and took swim lessons here and hung out with their friends.”

Hours of Operation for the season:

June 17- July 3 Sunday through Saturday 12 to 6 p.m. Free swim

July 5-28 Monday through Friday Swimming lessons 11 a.m to 2 p.m., Free Swim 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Free swim 12 – 6 p.m.

July 29- August 20 Open Swim 12-6 p.m.

The original town pool was opened in 1975. Mr & Mrs. Harold Gray donated six acres of land for the site and dedicated it to the Oxford Athletic Teams in 1971-72.