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Gates were swung open at 10 a.m. on Aug. 20, 1972, for the unofficial opening of the Wilkes-Barre Aqua Dome at Coal Street Park in Wilkes-Barre.
				Nearly 100 youngsters were waiting to rush inside and jump in the Olympic-size swimming pool that held 410,000 gallons of water, the Times Leader reported the same day.
				Considered state-of-the-art in design, the Aqua Dome was constructed to host swimming year round with an inflatable dome 100 feet by 200 feet supported by air pressure. The dome at the highest point was 40 feet above the pool. Water was heated by two hot air blowers during the winter as the dome was deflated from May until September.
				An official dedication of the $800,000 pool took place on Oct. 29, 1972, highlighted by the Penn State University Naids Swim Team that performed a synchronized swim and water ballet, and two nationally known divers, Richard Gilbert and Jim Henry, performing dives off the high board, the Times Leader reported the same day.
				Wilkes-Barre officials began planning a new pool in the Heights in 1971 as the city needed to replace the Griffith Pool Park on East Market Street, which was condemned by the State Department of Labor and Industry that year.
				When plans were announced in January 1971, the Aqua Dome complex consisted of a main pool measuring 76 by 75 feet, an attached 50-by-48-feet diving area, and a 50-by-30-feet instructional wading pool to teach youngsters how to swim, the Times Leader reported Jan. 8, 1971.
				&ldquo;The swimming complex will be surrounded by a fence which will also enclose a bath house, shower rooms, an office, a first aid room, storage and utility room, and a filter and equipment room,&rdquo; the Times Leader reported.
				An August 1971 opening was initially expected but construction was halted due to weather, building setbacks and unionized strikes.
				&ldquo;The latest setback for the opening of the year round new swimming facility off Coal Street is due to a labor dispute involving the hiring of non-unionized painters,&rdquo; the Times Leader reported May 19, 1972. Other unionized workers at the site joined in the picket line.
				&ldquo;The Aqua Dome, which already has had several setbacks on opening dates, still requires at least one months&rsquo; work before it will be in shape for use by swimmers,&rdquo; the newspaper reported.
				A late June 1972 opening was delayed due to the Agnes flood that month.
				Work resumed on the Aqua Dome in mid-July 1972, leading to the unofficial opening on Aug. 20, 1972.
				Outdoor swimming continued until Oct. 1, 1972, when the complex was closed until Oct. 22, as the inflatable dome was put into place for the first time.
				&ldquo;During the period from Oct. 2 to Oct. 22, tests will be made of the heating system, air supported plastic dome, and other mechanical aspects of the swimming pool operation,&rdquo; the Times Leader reported Sept. 24, 1972.
				As the city&rsquo;s other two swimming pools &#8211; Hollenback and Parrish &#8211; closed each September, the Aqua Dome remained open year-round.
				Unfortunately, the city decided to end year-round swimming in 1980 when it became too costly to keep the pool heated during winter.
				In time, the Aqua Dome name faded away and the pool became known as the Coal Street Park Pool, one of two pools in Wilkes-Barre with the Kistler Pool being the other in the 1980s and 1990s.
				As time passed, the Coal Street Park Pool was in dire need of repairs by the mid 2000s.
				&ldquo;Years of neglect have left the surface of the swimming pool pockmarked with holes and leaks. When the pool opened late last season, it lost roughly three inches of water daily,&rdquo; the Times Leader reported July 28, 2006.
				Coal Street Park Pool was last opened to the public in 2005 as the city opted not to reopen the facility in 2006.
				Eventually, the pool was demolished as part of the Coal Street Park renovation project in the early 2010s.

Look Back: Wilkes-Barre ‘Aqua Dome’ built in 1972