Administration Proposes the Reinstallation of Paxton Hall Motel Pool (April Fools)
Paxton Hall, then a motel with a pool, pictured in a postcard on Sept. 7, 1976.
By Sophie Lange, Features Editor
On Friday, The Gettysburgian came into possession of several planning documents that detailed the proposal for the reinstallation of the pool in front of Paxton Hall, thanks to an anonymous email. The most recent of these documents indicates that Gettysburg College President Bob Iuliano is aware of and approves of these plans. The Gettysburgian has corroborated this via an interview with an unnamed staff member who works closely with Iuliano.
The main reason for this proposal is to ensure that Paxton Hall will be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), for which the College plans to apply soon. Before being acquired by the College, Paxton Hall was a popular motel for tourists vacationing in Gettysburg. With its ideal location right within walking distance to the battlefield and the square, many famous individuals from across the country chose to stay there during the many years that the location operated as a Travelodge.
One of the most significant changes the College made upon purchasing this motel was to take out the swimming pool, citing the extravagant cost of upkeep as well as the possible threat to student safety. The administration of the school at that time opted to fill in the pool to create the green space now seen today. A generous donor recently started a philanthropic initiative to cover the full cost of upkeep should the College decide to rebuild the pool for the purpose of its eligibility for the NRHP. That being said, there is still the concern with student safety. To combat this, the administration hired several health and safety specialists to inspect the proposed location and construction plans.
The majority of these specialists indicated that this project would likely pose a safety hazard to the campus community. However, the school intends to pursue the project since two of the 15 specialists agreed that the installation of a pool would have more benefits than drawbacks.
“The fun of having a pool right there in front of your dorm room pretty much outweighs the risk of any bodily harm, I’d say,” one report stated. “Anyone who gets injured was probably doing something stupid anyway.”
That being said, in the interest of financial sustainability, the College intends to install the pool without filling it with water.
