Hepburn Pool

Hepburn Pool is located on Spring Creek within the Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve in Hepburn Springs and was included on the Victorian Heritage Register following a nomination and comparative analysis of pre Olympic Swimming Pools in Victoria by Lisa Gervasoni.[1]

The pool is of the "pre olympic" class of swimming pools which predate the modern Olympic Pool. In Victoria these pools may be enclosures / modifications to natural waterbodies such as the ocean, rivers, creeks and lakes or within dams. A paper on this class of swimming pools was presented to the 2011 Australia ICOMOS Watermarks Conference. [2]

The Pool was built for Bellinzona Guest House in the early 1930s. Bellinzona was operated by the Zelman'a, prominent Swiss Italian settlers. The pool is created by a concrete weir and drystone walling of a natural basin in Spring Creek. Terraced drystone seating surrounds the pool. The weir features an outlet value which ensures environmental flows into Spring Creek.[3]

The pool was of Olympic size and was an early competition pool which hosted Victorian swimming championships in the 1930s. Images of the swimming championships are available on Picture Australia and at the Daylesford Museum.

The pool ceased operation in 1969 when an Olympic Pool was constructed in Daylesford. The pool filled with silt and in 1993-95 was conserved by volunteers led by Merv Keating of the Savoia Hotel using old photographs to replicate missing features such as seating.

The Pool was named Victoria's Favourite Built Place in 2004 as part of the Victorian Government's involvement in the International Year of the Built Environment.[4]

In 2006 the Victorian Minister for Planning undertook a community consultation project to resolve perceived conflicts between the heritage of the site and Council's fears regarding insurance coverage. In 2007 risk management works, funded by the Department of Sustainability and the Environment commenced.[5]

Images

Notes

  1. ↑ Gervasoni, L 2000 Comparative Analysis of Pre Olympic Swimming Pools in Victoria, unpublished copy with Heritage Victoria
  2. ↑ Gervasoni, Lisa. "Preolympic Swimming Pools in Victoria" (PDF). http://www.ballaratheritage.com.au/articles/Pools%20ICOMOS.pdf. Retrieved 19 July 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  3. ↑ Heritage Victoria citation
  4. ↑ Gervasoni, Clare. Bullboar Macaroni and Mineral Water. Hepburn Springs Swiss Italian Festa Inc. p. 105.
  5. ↑ "Historic Hepburn Pool on the way to restoration". Media Release. Victoria, Australia: Minister for Planning.

References

Coordinates: 37°18′57″S 144°8′26″E / 37.31583°S 144.14056°E / -37.31583; 144.14056

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