School swimming pools are slowly disappearing from school playgrounds, however one in Christchurch is so well-loved, it's been rebuilt twice.
After almost seven years of work, the families of West Spreydon School are gearing up for a summer of swimming in a treasured pool they can finally enjoy.
Parents, neighbours, and children have all mucked in on weekends and in their spare time to save it.
"Good will, a lot of pro-bono stuff, a lot of cheap rates, and most importantly we've been getting back into the old work bees," project manager Duane Major says.
It's not the first time they've had all hands on deck. Ten years ago, the 1930's school pool was run down and about to be closed down for good.
The school community raised $100,000 dollars for repairs and it was saved.
"We celebrated on February 17 2011 [after] we pulled off two or three years' worth of hard work and then of course five days later…" Mr Major says.
Five days later and the February 22 earthquake struck - sending a giant crack through the school grounds and right through the pool.
"Yeah it was pretty heart-breaking but we had to get on," Mr Major says.
This time around, it was a much bigger job to fix.
The pool itself was shipped over from the United States; measuring 25 metres long and 10 metres wide, with a second smaller pool also on the site.
"You've got 30 dads showing up with wheelbarrows and just getting stuck in," construction manager Huntley Quinn says.
With a few more weeks work to go the pool will finally reopen for just the second time in a decade.
Newshub.
