Two Saturdays ago, the kids and I dropped off Nicholas and his friend at the school in Affoltern so they could attend their Gymi prep class. Then we walked over to the outdoor pool next door to attend their open house. The kids have been fascinated/worried/obsessed with what is happening to their beloved “Stigeli” so I thought they would love a chance to see the action up close and personal.
They announced they were renovating the entire pool in the paper two years ago. Then this fall, construction started. They completely tore out the old pool, dug out some of the landscaping and started building a bigger, better swimming area. The kids would sit up in their seats every time we would drive past to get a better glimpse of the destruction. Some were even a tad upset at the thought that Stigeli was now ruined and would never be the same again. 🙁 So when I saw the open house advertised in the newspaper, I knew we had to go and get a first hand look. Maybe this would convince them it was a good thing.
This is what it should look like when it is all finished.
There will be a slide, a designated lap pool, a bigger shallow pool for the not-quite swimmers, and a separate diving area.
This is what it looks like now, however.
The main concrete part of the pools is all finished, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. And they are planning to be open for business this May. I guess if the snow stays away like it has been, they might have a chance. 🙂
Two of the main builders/architects/engineers gave little talks explaining what it was we were looking at on the blueprints for the whole project right at the beginning. Fortunately they were pretty short, because even I didn’t understand half of what they were saying. I am sure it was complete gibberish to the kids. Then it was time to go in the actual pool! 
This is one of the dividers between two of the shallower pools. That round tube poking up in the foreground will eventually be a fountain. 
The men continued to give explanations while we walked around in the pool, but it was hard to hear, hard to understand what you did hear, and I didn’t catch most of it. The main thing was the kids had fun exploring. How often do you have the chance to walk around in a dry swimming pool? They were also relieved to see that the playground was still there, there is still lots of grass to sit on, and none of the shade trees were harmed in the construction. So now they are fine with the new Stigeli and can’t wait for it to open.
Noah especially wanted me to take this picture of the crane. Specifically, the bottom part, where it connects tot he ground. He thought it was fascinating. If you look to the right you will see the name of the construction company that owns the crane, Gautschi. I learned later that this man is the same man who owns, and is building, the apartments across the street from our house. I hope they turn out nice!