The Big Pool in Garden City. (Photo credit: Kansas Sampler Foundation)
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) — One of Garden City's biggest attractions is open for the summer. KSNW-TV reports the city's Big Pool is filled with more than 2 million gallons of water and ready to accommodate swimmers — hundreds of them, more than the populations of some Kansas towns. According to the Garden City Recreation Commission, the pool draws anywhere from 500 to 1,500 swimmers a day. Dating to the 1920s, the pool is so big that as a promotional stunt, a small motorboat once pulled a couple of water skiers around the surface. Western Kansas remains in a deep drought, but Garden City water superintendent Tony Hurtado says the pool isn't really a water hog. Once it's filled, the water is recycled and filtered.
Garden City's Big Poolonce had a claim to fame for being the largest, free, municipal, concrete pool in the world. Now that an entrance fee is charged, it no longer has that title.