The good idea: Houston needs a great big swimming hole.

Idea guys: Monte Large and Evan O'Neil, of Houston Needs a Swimming Hole.

Where the idea came from: Enduring the Houston heat. Large, an urban real-estate developer, doesn't have a car and bikes everywhere. One summer day, the friends asked each other a series of questions while sweating in a coffee shop:

"What if Houston still had the Shamrock Hotel pool?

"What if Houston had a Barton Springs?

"Or our own beautiful big swimming hole in the middle of the city?"

Neither Large nor O'Neil is into the sport of swimming. Their hobby, they say, is helping Houston be cool.

Large and O'Neil recognize several realities about their hometown. Houston is a subtropical environment; it is very close to, yet painfully far from the ocean; and improbably, the city has become a leader in the use of green technology.

They researched available technology and decided that an enormous natural pool that filters the water with plant material would be a symbol of "the marvel Houston is becoming." According to their research, there are more than 20,000 natural pools across Europe. Managed properly, natural swimming pools have clear water and require no chemicals to maintain. Instead, they are self-cleaning: cattails, water lilies and other water plants serve as natural filters.

According to the website that O'Neil, a designer, created with Large's help, the city of Minneapolis has built the nation's first natural pool for a cost of around $4 million. Another source of inspiration was the Plus Pool in New York City. "They are filtering water to create recreational use and attention to their water access in a really cool and unique way," says O'Neil.

More Information For more information, to donate land or share ideas or expertise, check out Houston Needs a Swimming Hole. Gray Matters' hobby is helping Houston be cool.

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They're also inspired by +Pool, a giant plus-shaped pool proposed in the middle of New York City's sewage-fouled East River. (The proposal calls for major filters.)

"Forget audacious tall buildings such as Burj Khalifa, the Petronas Towers, or even the Eiffel or (former) Sears Towers. These are outdated ideas of what make great cities. Though each of these has successfully become a symbol and an attraction, nothing creates such dynamic social spaces as parks. Water goes even a step further," the Houston needs a swimming hole team believes.

Idea's deepest roots: Large remembers going to the Shamrock when he was six. He always held his mother's hand near pools and as he gripped her fingers, he looked up and was overwhelmed by the tall diving board. "People really dive off of that," he thought.

"Shamrock's legendary Texas-sized swimming pool was so large you could water-ski in it," O'Neil notes. Large believes that Houston hasn't had anything like ever since.

"Anyone who remembers the Shamrock speaks of it with such awe and reverence," Large says.

Next steps: The duo, along with another team member, Jeff Kaplan, are looking for a 10-plus acre tract of land in central Houston to build the pool on. The pool and park will require six to nine acres; the remainder of the land is needed for facilities and parking.

They figure that three acres is the minimum size for the perfect Houston pool. (That's the size of the swimmable portion of Barton Springs, the man-made recreational pool in Austin.) This would include a pool of approximately 50,000 square feet and a plant-filled "regeneration zone" of 40,000 square feet. The team estimates that construction costs be between $6 million and $10 million. They haven't started fundraising yet.

Bold idea: Use the bayou water and filter it. Large recognizes that this may be a stretch, although he would like to talk to engineers about the process. More likely, the pool will need to use city water. But the maintenance costs of natural pools are relatively low.

The bottom line: Water can have a profound effect on lives.



