About Wilshire Pool:
Wilshire pool is a private members only swimming club that has been operating since 1955. We have two pools, two baby pools, high and low diving boards, 3 shaded acres of grounds, swimming and diving teams, basketball and volleyball courts, a pavilion, and a snack bar. We are open from Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend, but we’ve been known to open a bit early and extend the fun into September if the weather works in our favor.
We do not allow day swimmers. All guest must be signed in by a member.
Updates:
- Less than 30 days until the summer of 2021 swimming season starts
A lot has being going on at the pool this spring. Wait, a whole lot has been going on. The upper pool has been refinished, gone is that cheese grater like floor that was roughing up feet. Both pools have been repainted with high quality pool paint that will last for years. The bathrooms are being redone now and will have a whole new look to them.
But today I write about my pet project, the infield grass. For years the infield was treated like a dumping ground for those old half used bags of seed, weed, and feed that can be found hidden in the back of every suburban shed or garage. In the end, we ended up with an infield made up of 5 different types of grass, but mostly it was 27 different types of weeds. Well, the lawn rehab started last fall with 80 lbs of tall fescue seed, and was reseeded again this spring with 80lbs of tall fescue. Tall fescue makes a nice lawn as it’s resistant to drought, tolerates full sun, and withstands high traffic. Also this spring we treated the infield with Tenacity, a post emergent weed control. Tenacity got the weeds killed off while still letting the grass grow. This year the infield will be free of clover, creeping Charlie, crabgrass, and dandelions. There should be far fewer bees and bee stings on bare feet, I took seven stings last year. There was one last grass project finished up tonight and that was to rehab the mud spots that appeared under some of the trees, those spots sure were popular last year. By opening day those spot should be full of grass. We do still have more projects to do. It you have 2-3 hours to help out, we’d certainly appreciate it. Members helping with the spring opening, the summer grass cutting, and the fall close down help control our costs and keeps our dues in check and our food prices low. We have one more surprise for the infield and we’ll post about that soon. We don’t want to give it away just yet, but it’s something no other pool has or will be doing this year.
The fresh cut infield looking better than it’s looked in years. Compare that to what it looked like just 30 days ago.
Another view of that sweet looking infield
The area under the trees that’s being rehabbed. It was hand seeded today and covered with peat moss to keep in the moisture. In eight days we should start to see it getting green, in two weeks it will be looking like a lawn, and by opening day it should be full and thick.
The lower pool swim lane lines being repainted. It takes 360 yards of painters tape to tap off all the lines.
- Two Months Until Opening Day
That’s right, it’s just two months until the pool opens for another season. The snow has finally melted and the opening work is underway. This past off season there was quite a bit of concrete work completed on both pools. After a good scrubbing and cleaning, both pools will be repainted and the upper pool floor will get resurfaced so that it’s smooth and slip resistant. There’s also a project underway that’s making some much needed bathroom improvements.
After a long snowy winter, there’s always lots of grounds work to be done. Today the dad squad was out today doing some weed control, stick pick up, and raking. Every year there are a few hundred hours of labor that goes into opening the pool, nearly all of this labor is provided by members. If you have a few hours to spare this spring we have lots of painting, pressure washing, leaf clean up, landscaping, grass cutting, and more to do. While we’ll be announcing some weekend work days soon, there will be people at the pool almost every day between now and opening day. So, if you want to help out and can’t make one of the weekend dates, email us and we’ll let you know the weeknights we’ll be there.
The infield starting to green up from the fall seeding.
Some of the upper pool concrete work
Jon O’Neil collecting up those sticks and acorns
Almost 250gal of stuff collected up today, waiting to be hauled off next week.
Ron, our concrete guy, putting the finishing touches on the upper pool.
Andy spraying the infield to take out the weeds.
- A little bit of history
Wilshire pool came into existence sometime around 1955. As a kid I remember the pool having a burning of the mortgage party in 1985. A lot has changed over years. In the late 1950s, the pool grounds were small with a grass area around the upper pool and no lower pool. There was a small building that housed the office, pump house, and bathrooms. The parking lot appears to have been unpaved. Much of the area around the pool was undeveloped.
By 1971, the lower pool was operating and the grounds were much the way you’d see them today except the trees were small and only a few years old. The pavilion had not yet been constructed and the basketball court does not appear in the photos.
Here we are today, getting ready to open for another season after more than 60 years of providing summer fun. If you have any old photos of the pool, we’d love to see them. For those of you who are now second or third generation members, dig in those old shoeboxes of photos from the 70s and 80s and show us what you’ve got.
79 days until the pool opens.
- New member application
The new member application is live at the link on the top of the page. Wilshire pool is a private member supported club, as such we require that all new members be sponsored by an existing member in good standing, be of good moral character, and be approved by our membership committee. If you have questions about membership feel free to email us, or stop by the pool on one of our preseason weekend work days.
Since 1955 Wilshire pool has been a private club providing seasonal swimming, diving, and recreation on our three acres of clean and safe grounds. Over the years we’ve had world class athletes swim in our pools, including nationally ranked triathletes, future Olympians, and an endurance swimmer who swam across the English Channel. We feature the last remaining high dive in Berks County, as well as two adult pools, two kiddie pools, basketball and volleyball courts, a pavilion, snack bar, and plenty of sun and shade.
- The 2021 season is almost here
There may still be some snow on the ground on this last day of February, but we’re just 3 months from the pool opening for another outstanding season. 2020 was a fun and amazing season at Wilshire, from the from the larger than life mascots who visited us most weekends, the only swim meet in Berks County, or our nights and weekends with a DJ. 2021 is only going to be more fun, with more events, more entertainment, and some new improvements. This is why we’ve become Berks County’s premier swimming club and great place to relax. As soon as the snow melts we’re going to start working on the grounds and this is where we need your help. As a private member funded club, we rely on members donating time to get the pool ready for opening day. You don’t need to be a master electrician or plumber, but if you are we could use you too, to help out. We have painting, pressure washing, lawn maintenance, an other odd jobs that go in to opening the pool. If you can come help out for a few hours on a weekend it helps keep our costs down and makes sure we’re more than ready for opening day. We’ll be announcing some work days soon and we hope to see you there.
Membership renewals are live on the website and can be submitted now. New member applications will be accepted soon, with new members needing sponsorship of an existing member in good standing. If you have questions about memberships, contact us or stop by and see us on one of our work days.
