Source: Hoch, Isabel. 2008. Pages 59, 123, 153
First Pool 1907
The first swimming pool resulted from an approach to the Premier of Queensland, W. Kidston and the Home Secreatary, P. Airey, during an official visit in April 1906. Councillors asked permission to fill a swimming pool from the 1887 railway bore from which water flowed to waste because it was not suitable for steam train engines. The first town swimming pool was built near the bore.
The pool, 100 ft. by 25 ft., with 6 inch concrete walls, cost over £800. Construction began about August 1907 with the carting of 32 loads of gravel from Busthinia and was almost complete by late November.
It had corrugated iron dressing sheds was eventually equipped with a spring board and an invalid pool (a plunge bath and a shower in a separate compartment). One of the first to take a dip almost drowned – a drunken man pulled from the deep end by Vesper and McGrath in December 1907.
At first rules were strict and mixed bathing was not allowed. Apparently men at that time did not wear bething costumes. From January 1908, the complex was leased to Denis Hoare, the man who took his family to Paraquay after the shearers’ strike. The Western Champion approved of the choice, stating:
‘a big strong determined man like Denis Hoare is needed to put down larrikinism and filthiness’.
Entry cost 3d for adults and 1d for children with concessional books of tickets available. Water flowed continuously through the 60,000 gallon pool, which was emptied twice a week for cleaning, the old water being piped across to Oak Street and then into Lagoon Creek. 
A Swimming Club staged its first carnival in November 1908 for male swimmers only. Ladies, after initial shyness about entering, were enthusiastic spectators. In time, swimming carnivals became regular events and the rigid prudery of early rules was relaxed. An attraction at the pool in its first years was a model steam boat made by A. A. Dyer, a local mechanic. The boat has been preserved at the Barcaldine Historical Museum.
Second Pool 1980
In 1980 the council added a new swimming pool to the sporting complex. The old 1907 pool, once pride of the district, had become almost an embarrassment by 1965 when the council first included funds for a new pool in its loan proposals. The decision to borrow £35,000 was reached after two hours of ‘fiery debate’ according to a newspaper report, and equally heated debate in the press followed. The wool crisis years and pressure from country ratepayers delayed construction of the pool for over 10 years but in 1978 a tender of $237,637 from Sommer and Staff of Brisbane was accepted for a 50 metre Olympic standard pool and another $33,800 from Water and Industrial Engineering for a filtration plant. The completed project was opened in March 1981 by local MLA, Bill Glasson, Minister for Lands, after the premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen was unable to do so because engine trouble grounded his aircraft. About 250 people, including four chairmen from other shires, attended the ceremony and the novelty carnival that followed.
The old pool was emptied and filled in.
