CALUMET CITY | Fifty years after Memorial Pool was built, the Calumet Memorial Park District has started demolition to pave the way for a new $1 million project.

The pool at 612 Wentworth Ave. has been closed for more than three years, said Kathy Komorowski, director of recreation facilities for the park district.

Komorowski said it was sad seeing the pool go, but it was too expensive for the community to operate two outdoor pools. Finneran Pool continues to serve the community.

"Everyone has wonderful memories about Memorial (Pool), and it's a piece of history that went down," she said.

In its place, the district plans to build a family fun center with a splash pad area, batting cages, golf nets, electronic playground equipment that lights up, and a new building with bathrooms and concessions, Komorowski said. The splash pad will feature sprinklers, water cannons and large squirt guns, she said.

The district hopes the first phase of the project will be done by spring, Komorowski said.

The district plans to award a bid for the work during a meeting Sept. 16, she said.

In the second phase of the project, the district plans to build a nine-hole miniature golf course that should open in 2010, she said.

"We are very excited about it," Komorowski said. "The board has decided to go forward, and we believe the community will respond very positively to the splash pad and batting cage idea."

Demolition started last week and should be finished by the end of next week, Komorowski said.

"It's very strange not to see the pool anymore," she said. "There's an awful lot of concrete."