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Revamped Roselle pool is a splash

The line of people was already 100 deep before the doors to the new Kemmerling Park pool opened in Roselle Saturday afternoon.

Already in their swimming trunks, it didn't take long for the crowd to start a chant in front of the big, red bow that blocked the entrance--"Cut it! Cut it! Cut it!"

The excitement was understandable for a community that's been without a pool at Kemmerling for the past seven years. The pool, originally built in 1970, closed in 2001 after suffering structural damage.

That pool was built, in part, by Don Kemmerling who was the original park board president back in 1970. He is now living the retired life in Florida.

On Saturday, he returned to Roselle to see the transformation of the park that bears his name.

"There's no comparison," Kemmerling said while gazing at the new $5.1 million pool. "At the time we built the original, we built what we could afford. It was just a rectangular pool. The whole town has transformed. It's so lush and green. And there's so much more activity in the downtown."

Kemmerling said it was an honor just to be invited to the day the community broke in the new pool.

That singular, distinct honor of being the first community member in the pool belonged to 11-year-old Benjamin Wawczak. He completed the task with a cannonball into about 3 feet of clear water.

Wawczak earned the honor by bidding for it online. In that realm, there was perhaps no bigger fan of the new pool than the Fox family. The Foxes placed the winning bids on a lifetime pool pass and the honor of being the first to use the pool's drop slide.

It was soon clear why the family chose to bid on those items as 2-year-old Tommy Fox had to be practically restrained from jumping in the pool before everyone was ready to watch him go down the slide. Once complete, he was immediately ready to get back in the pool.

"He loves the water," said his father, who is also named Tom. "We figured we'll start him out early."

Tommy Fox III, 2, had the privilege of being the first to slide down into the deep end during the grand opening of the Kemmerling Park and Pool in Roselle. Marcelle Bright | Staff Photographer
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