---

NORTH ATTLEBORO

Calling the historic pool a national treasure, town officials rededicated the World War II Memorial Pool in honor of that war's veterans on Thursday.

"It's a true honor to rededicate this pool in honor of our World War II veterans," Veteran's Agent James McCann said. "There are so few of these pools left in the United States - I think there are only two others - that this is not only a community treasure, it's a national treasure."

Work recently was completed to refurbish the aging above-ground pool, which serves as a memorial to 50 local men killed during World War II. The pool was built in 1951 and paid for through a community chest set up for veterans of that war.

The money was originally going to be used for a parade, but local veterans said they would prefer to use it for a lasting memorial. It was one of eight memorial pools to be constructed around the country, and is one of two or three that still exist.

On Thursday, several veterans of World War II raised the U.S. flag in front of the pool as the national anthem played. A plaque was added to commemorate the rededication ceremony, which includes the words "Lest We Forget."

Through donations from the community, the North Attleboro Kiwanis Club raised the $65,000 needed to construct the 173,000-gallon pool, which opened its doors in June 1951.

Among those who remember that day fondly is Plainville resident John Hickman, who was the first child to swim in the pool.

"I lived down the street and got here early," Hickman recalled of the pool's opening, which occurred when he was 14 years old. "The line was out to South Washington Street and I just jumped right in. My cousin was here visiting from Kentucky and she was the first paid admission to the pool. She's 87 years old, now."

The pool was designed by civil engineer Wesley Bintz, of the Bintz Swimming Pool Co. Bintz patented the above-ground design in 1923 and built hundreds of pools around the state. He provided the plans for free because the pool was to be constructed as a memorial for World War II veterans.

The aspects that made Bintz pools unique have contributed to their demise because many communities across the country, faced with the expense of making extensive repairs to the aging structures, have chosen to raze them, instead.

The North Attleboro Park Department, which took over the pool two years ago, has worked hard to revitalize the pool by doing everything from updating its plumbing to repainting its sides.

Park Commission Chairman Mitchell MacDonald paid tribute to the World War II veterans who had the foresight to build a pool and to a number of local people who pitched in to help revitalize it over the past two years.

"Two years ago, the pool was teetering at the point that left its very existence in question," MacDonald said. "It was thanks to an outpouring of support from the community that this pool was restored to its past glory." Among them were student athletes from North Attleboro High School, who volunteered time to help repaint the structure, park commission member Kyle Kummer, who spent many months working on restoration efforts, Bob Guthrie, who has worked at the pool for four decades and Park Director Steve Carvalho, who enthusiastically embraced the rehabilitation project.

Carvalho was presented with a framed enlargement of a postcard that shows a picture of the pool at its 1951 opening.