From: Sarah Rapp
Sent: Tue, September 28, 2010 10:33:58 AM
Subject: Fw: Fwd: The Portsmouth Terrace Club
Thought you might enjoy this -- some nostalgic memories of summer times at the Terrace Club Pool in Portsmouth Ohio , as written by Blaine Bierley, PHS Class of 1955.
~~~~~
The Portsmouth Terrace Club
Most kids in Portsmouth spent a lot of time at the Terrace Club in Portsmouth in the summer
when we were growing up. The Terrace Club was originally built as Dreamland Pool sometime in
the 1930s, I think. It was a great pool... Olympicsize with two piers, two spring boards, and a high
dive. One of my main memories of the pool was how crowded it always was... wall to wall people
just about every day of the week in the summer.
I remember going by the Blue Pig Inn on Gallia Street (and later on, the Big Boy Restaurant) to get
to the swimming pool. The Blue Pig Inn had a big neon sign which had the appearance of a
man chasing after a pig. It was a drive-in restaurant owned by Bill Ginnetti which specialized in
pork barbecue and wonderful A & W root beer served in frosted mugs, for only a nickel.
If you really economized, you could save a nickel from a long day at the swimming pool for
a mug of root beer to enjoy before the long walk back over the Harmon Street viaduct which took
us over the N&W rail yards back to Charles Street .
I think it cost about a quarter to get in. You could stay all day for that price. The height of
prestige was to have a season pass (good for all summer)... only the “rich” kids from up on the
hill had those as I remember.
There were separate locker rooms, of course, for men and women. The boys would always try
to peek in the door of the women’s side, but we never saw anything. Boys usually came with their
swimming trunks rolled up in a towel. Many of the girls had those little train cases in which they
carried all the things that females needed to fix their hair and their faces. You undressed and put
your street clothes in a wire basket and put your towel over the top of the basket. Then you gave
the basket to the locket room attendant. He, in turn, would give you a pin with your basket’s
number that you pinned on your trunks. Woe to you if you lost your pin!
On leaving the locker room, you had to walk through a large trough that had a foul-smelling,
green-colored liquid in it. You had to go through it again when you came back in to get dressed.
The purpose of this procedure was supposedly to protect you from getting athlete’s foot or any
other tropical diseases, I guess.
The pool had men lifeguards. These were real adults who were always deeply tanned and kept a
strict watch on the patrons. A whistle blown by a lifeguard could mean a time out or, for serious
offenses, expulsion from the pool for the day.
One of the lifeguards was Mr. Charles Lorentz. He was an assistant football and basketball and
head tennis coach at Portsmouth High School . He was also a freshman general science teacher. You
didn’t want to get on his bad side for fear of repercussions once you got to the high school.
They also had a huge trampoline at the pool. It was used mainly by the high school kids and
some adults. They monopolized its use and we elementary school kids had little opportunity to
use it. Some of the bigger kids were very acrobatic on it.
I don’t remember that the pool had a rest period like most pools do today, where everyone has
to get out of the water for five or ten minutes each hour. No wonder we were so tired after a day at
the pool.
I didn’t get to the pool very often in the summer after I was in high school, because of various jobs
that I had.
Sadly, the Terrace Club is no more. As it got older, it became more and more difficult to maintain
and posed some health hazards for swimmers. I think it was some time in the early 1990s
that they closed it up. Eventually, the entire pool was filled in with dirt and they tore down the
structures and turned the place into an Odd Lots or something like that.
Lots of good memories, though.
by Blaine S. Bierley , PHS Class of 1955
3746 Falls Circle Drive
Hilliard , Ohio 43026
bbierley@columbus.rr.com
-----
Thought you might enjoy this -- some nostalgic memories of summer times at the Terrace Club Pool in Portsmouth Ohio , as written by Blaine Bierley, PHS Class of 1955.
~~~~~
The Portsmouth Terrace Club
Most kids in Portsmouth spent a lot of time at the Terrace Club in Portsmouth in the summer
when we were growing up. The Terrace Club was originally built as Dreamland Pool sometime in
the 1930s, I think. It was a great pool... Olympicsize with two piers, two spring boards, and a high
dive. One of my main memories of the pool was how crowded it always was... wall to wall people
just about every day of the week in the summer.
I remember going by the Blue Pig Inn on Gallia Street (and later on, the Big Boy Restaurant) to get
to the swimming pool. The Blue Pig Inn had a big neon sign which had the appearance of a
man chasing after a pig. It was a drive-in restaurant owned by Bill Ginnetti which specialized in
pork barbecue and wonderful A & W root beer served in frosted mugs, for only a nickel.
If you really economized, you could save a nickel from a long day at the swimming pool for
a mug of root beer to enjoy before the long walk back over the Harmon Street viaduct which took
us over the N&W rail yards back to Charles Street .
I think it cost about a quarter to get in. You could stay all day for that price. The height of
prestige was to have a season pass (good for all summer)... only the “rich” kids from up on the
hill had those as I remember.
There were separate locker rooms, of course, for men and women. The boys would always try
to peek in the door of the women’s side, but we never saw anything. Boys usually came with their
swimming trunks rolled up in a towel. Many of the girls had those little train cases in which they
carried all the things that females needed to fix their hair and their faces. You undressed and put
your street clothes in a wire basket and put your towel over the top of the basket. Then you gave
the basket to the locket room attendant. He, in turn, would give you a pin with your basket’s
number that you pinned on your trunks. Woe to you if you lost your pin!
On leaving the locker room, you had to walk through a large trough that had a foul-smelling,
green-colored liquid in it. You had to go through it again when you came back in to get dressed.
The purpose of this procedure was supposedly to protect you from getting athlete’s foot or any
other tropical diseases, I guess.
The pool had men lifeguards. These were real adults who were always deeply tanned and kept a
strict watch on the patrons. A whistle blown by a lifeguard could mean a time out or, for serious
offenses, expulsion from the pool for the day.
One of the lifeguards was Mr. Charles Lorentz. He was an assistant football and basketball and
head tennis coach at Portsmouth High School . He was also a freshman general science teacher. You
didn’t want to get on his bad side for fear of repercussions once you got to the high school.
They also had a huge trampoline at the pool. It was used mainly by the high school kids and
some adults. They monopolized its use and we elementary school kids had little opportunity to
use it. Some of the bigger kids were very acrobatic on it.
I don’t remember that the pool had a rest period like most pools do today, where everyone has
to get out of the water for five or ten minutes each hour. No wonder we were so tired after a day at
the pool.
I didn’t get to the pool very often in the summer after I was in high school, because of various jobs
that I had.
Sadly, the Terrace Club is no more. As it got older, it became more and more difficult to maintain
and posed some health hazards for swimmers. I think it was some time in the early 1990s
that they closed it up. Eventually, the entire pool was filled in with dirt and they tore down the
structures and turned the place into an Odd Lots or something like that.
Lots of good memories, though.
by Blaine S. Bierley , PHS Class of 1955
3746 Falls Circle Drive
Hilliard , Ohio 43026
bbierley@columbus.rr.com
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