Farmingdale HS Pool Demolished After Nearly 60 Years

FARMINGDALE, NY — The Farmingdale High School pool was demolished after nearly 60 years of service, the school district announced.

Superintendent Paul Defendini said as a former student who swam in that pool, he has "mixed emotions."

"In its place, we'll have a new security vestibule and entrance, along with new tennis and pickleball courts," Defendini told the community in a letter. "The adjacent multipurpose field is being adjusted to accommodate these changes, which are expected to be completed by the end of fall."

The Farmingdale Aquatic Center opened in September 2022, giving the district two pool buildings for nearly two years. The state-of-the-art complex features two pools on the grounds of Howitt Middle School. Unlike the pool at Farmingdale High School, which was largely reserved for the district's student-athletes, the community gets to make daily use of the aquatic center.

Defendini, at the grand opening, said the Farmingdale High School pool was approaching 50 years old when school district officials began the discussion on the aquatic center at Howitt.

"Pools aren't supposed to live for 50 years," Defendini said at the ribbon cutting. "If you get 30, you're lucky. Forty is a miracle, and 50 is unheard of. The fact that we were nearing our 50-year anniversary made us realize we had to do something. Neither the board of education nor the administration wanted that facility to go down on our watch. We did not want to be the reason why the Farmingdale aquatics program and why our program here at Farmingdale Schools doesn't continue to live on."

Farmingdale residents in 2016 voted to approve a $36 million bond for the sports complex and aquatic center, which also saw a rebuild of the high school stadium, new baseball, softball and multi-purpose stadiums at Howitt, and upgrades to every field in the school district.