# What To Do With An Unused Indoor Pool
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 22, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079 "2016-06-22T19:45:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/1 "2016-06-22T19:45:44Z")
I was having lunch at a club today and I noticed an official notice that they were taking the pool out of service for good in July.
I asked one of the managers about it, and she said, they debated it long and hard but he insurance and upkeep versus the use made it not worth it.
I’m not a club member, I was having lunch as someone’s guest, but I got to thinking, this is a huge Olympic sized pool. It’s 3 feet to 15 feet deep.
What does one do with a pool after you close it? I asked the manager and she said, “We’ll just lock it up for now, and if we get the money to tear it down, I guess we will or maybe someday reopen it.”
So I guess the pool area will be locked and this huge room will be wasted?
My question is what are the logics of removing a huge ground floor indoor pool?
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### Author:  [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/2 "2016-06-22T20:42:03Z")
The swim club I was a member at during high school got bought by a church (Evangelical of some type, IIRC) about the time I went to college. The indoor pool had its tiling jackhammered out, the pumps etc. removed, and was filled with concrete. I understand that the altar ended up where the diving boards used to be.
The outdoor pool and tennis courts they kept for their members, apparently so they wouldn’t have to associate with any nasty outside influences in their non-church time. About five years later the congregation folded, and it’s now been abandoned for years and years. Rumor has it that the giant chunk of concrete under the floor indoors made it infeasible to repurpose the place into something else.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/3 "2016-06-22T21:02:17Z")
If you’ve ever seen a press conference from the White House, that long room with a sloping floor that they’re in? That’s an ex-pool. So, your club could try that, if they have a lot of press conferences.
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### Author:  [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/4 "2016-06-22T21:12:01Z")
You could turn it into a dance floor that can be retracted. Just keep the switch locked out.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/5 "2016-06-22T21:28:04Z")
> [@GaryM](#):
>
> You could turn it into a dance floor that can be retracted. Just keep the switch locked out.
I’m not certain of your meaning.
Could you re-phrase this?
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### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/6 "2016-06-22T21:38:16Z")
Ball pit or skateboard park.
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### Author:  [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/7 "2016-06-22T21:41:09Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#):
>
> I’m not certain of your meaning.
> Could you re-phrase this?
it appears to be an “It’s a Wonderful Life” reference.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/8 "2016-06-22T21:42:39Z")
> [@GaryM](#):
>
> You could turn it into a dance floor that can be retracted. Just keep the switch locked out.
I’m guessing [this scene.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rha-6qG4OQ)
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### Author:  [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/9 "2016-06-22T21:52:09Z")
> [@Lightray](#):
>
> The indoor pool had its tiling jackhammered out, the pumps etc. removed, and was filled with concrete.
It probably wasn’t completely filled with concrete. Standard work for abandoning a pool would be to punch holes in the bottom, fill the pool with dirt and compact, and if a floor was desired on top it would be a slab about 4" or so thick, depending on the use.
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### Author:  [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/10 "2016-06-23T00:33:55Z")
OK, basics of shutting down a pool (indoor or outdoor):
As **Dag Otto** mentioned, there is a hole punched in it. Because it otherwise is a waterproof tub sitting in water-filled soil. Some people who drained a pool found that it popped up a few inches as the last of the water was removed. The hole allows the water to rise in the tub as it rises in the soil.
Before completely destroying the value of the real estate by creating a huge block of concrete, the sensible thing outdoors is fill with soil (and leave the stubs of the various pipes, in case a future owner is foolish enough to want to restore it).
Indoors, I would suggest an engineered floor across the pit (after punching a couple of holes).
The Elementary School I attended had an underground “meeting room” with a bizarre domed floor. Rumor had it it was originally a pool. My gess is that they punched the hole and promptly filled with concrete - then discovered that even a block of concrete will rise if it is on a water table which rises.
I looked that school up many years ago (we moved from the town) - it had been torn down (including all the “additions” that were never enough) and rebuilt.
I"d love to know what they found under that floor.
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### Author:  [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/11 "2016-06-23T01:59:16Z")
> [@Unpronounceable](#):
>
> it appears to be an “It’s a Wonderful Life” reference.
Yes that’s what it was. I should have been more clear.
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/12 "2016-06-23T02:14:25Z")
My grandparents had an indoor pool in there basement. It hadn’t actually been filled up & used since circa 2000 and my brother sold the house a few years later. I’ve always wondered what the new owners did with it. From driving past I know they put an above ground pool up in the back yard. I know from my brother the indoor pool did _ **NOT** _ make it easier to sell the house.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/13 "2016-06-23T02:22:10Z")
Install some lights and switch it into a giant hydroponics farm.
With the right crops, you could make a profit.
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/14 "2016-06-23T02:23:42Z")
> [@Lightray](#):
>
> Rumor has it that the giant chunk of concrete under the floor indoors made it infeasible to repurpose the place into something else.
Might not be a bad place to put a CMM machine.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2016, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/15 "2016-06-23T02:43:05Z")
Five-inch thick layer of foam at the bottom, glued into place.
Ten million ball pit balls.
Presto! Adult ball pit!
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/16 "2016-06-25T03:14:56Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> Five-inch thick layer of foam at the bottom, glued into place.
>
> Ten million ball pit balls.
>
> Presto! Adult ball pit!
I was going to say ‘member vs member dispute arbitration jello wrestling pit, complete with non participant betting’, but I like your idea better. 😃
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/17 "2016-06-25T03:32:43Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> My grandparents had an indoor pool in there basement. It hadn’t actually been filled up & used since circa 2000 and my brother sold the house a few years later. I’ve always wondered what the new owners did with it. From driving past I know they put an above ground pool up in the back yard. I know from my brother the indoor pool did _ **NOT** _ make it easier to sell the house.
Having an in-ground outdoor pool does not make houses easier to sell in my neck of the woods either. They are also extremely expensive to insure.
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### Author:  [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2016, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/18 "2016-06-25T07:59:49Z")
I once heard that “Swimming Pool” was the “#1 with a bullet!” “home improvement with least possible rise on resale value”.
This place (foreclosure, sat empty for 2 years) has ca. 1985 plaster pool and spa.
For classic: really, you shouldn’t have… really you REALLY SHOULDN’T HAVE!:
When I first saw it, it had a bit of rainwater in it. The rainwater was dark green.
It would have required 2 gallons of laundry bleach to cure the green.
They just increased the algae puddle by 15,000 gallons.
Any way: I have replaced the pumps and filter. I can keep it free of mosquitoes.
I’m guessing $7-$8K to clean, repair/replace just the existing (1985) controls. To bring it up to modern standards would add $2K.
I don’t swim, and I will die in this place (a depressing thought)…
It will be somebody else’s job to fix it or fill it.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/19 "2016-06-25T21:03:50Z")
Usedtobe, why don’t you fill it in?
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### Author:  [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-an-unused-indoor-pool/758079/20 "2016-06-25T22:32:14Z")
That would cost almost as much as re-plaster, clean waterline tile, replace spa return jets.
And more than replace controls/timers with ones usable from Smart Phone!
I don’t care enough, nor am I rich enough to do either.
I am atrophying due to pain from osteoarthritis. I really should get a foam board and start paddling around in the pool for exercise.
Someday.
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