A Dip into History
In a non-descript brown building nestled between the Norma Marion Alloway Library and Seal Kap House, lies a piece of TWU history that has largely been kept secret – the Trinity Western pool. This 25-foot long concrete reservoir, six feet at its shallowest and 12 feet at its deepest, was built in the late 1940s as part of the original homestead on which the University now sits. When TWU was still Trinity Western College, the swimming hole invigorated tired students on summer days and for some unfortunate souls, who were pushed into it mid-winter, chilled them to the bone.
A building was constructed over the pool in 1967, transforming it into a water reservoir. Water flowed into the pool from a natural aqueduct and was aerated, filtered, and distributed to buildings as campus drinking water.
Today, the pool is part of a geothermal system to cool the library, supply water for irrigation, and feed water back into the pond if levels drop. But for those lucky few who had the opportunity to dip their toes into the pool’s cool, clear waters of yesteryear, they unknowingly dipped their toes into a piece of TWU history.
by Erin Mussolum '95