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Hilton Head Island or simply Hilton Head is a Lowcountry resort town located on an island of the same name in Beaufort County, South Carolina. The island gets its name from Captain William Hilton. In 1663, Captain Hilton identified a headland near the entrance to Port Royal Sound, which he named “Hilton’s Head” after himself. The island features 12 miles of beachfront on the Atlantic Ocean and is a popular vacation destination.

The island has a rich history that started with seasonal occupation by native Americans thousands of years ago, and continued with European exploration
and the Sea Island Cotton trade. It became an important base of operations for the Union blockade of the Southern ports during the Civil War. Once the island fell to Union troops, hundreds of ex-slaves flocked to Hilton Head, which is still home to many ‘native islanders’, many of whom are descendants of freed slaves known as the Gullah (or Geechee) who have managed to hold onto much of their ethnic and cultural identity.

This swimming pool is a project by Carecraft Member, Year Round Pool Co. in an area called Hilton Head Lakes. Year Round Pool Co is headquartered at 386 Buck Island Road in Blufton, SC.

The pool is built over looking a man made lake. This change in topography in the low country is not common, it really doesn’t exist and it didn’t exist here. The difference in elevation was made using the dirt from excavating for the lake and raising the site grades where the clubhouse and the pool were built .

The owner wanted something dramatic so Frank X Fotia III (President of Year Round) came up with the idea of having the pool appear as it was close to the lake (but slightly above the lake) by using an acrylic panel in the opening so swimmers can swim towards the lake while in the pool with the sensation of ending up in the lake, the ultimate infinity view!

The fist design Frank did was with the entire end wall of the pool being a piece of acrylic but the cost became too great and it was scaled down to stay within a strict budget.

There was a lot of structural engineering that went into the pool wall structure to handle the loads on the acrylic panel and pool wall to prevent any bowing of the panel and enough structure within the pool end wall to handle the lateral forces. The opposite end of the pool has a beach entry.

Year Round Pool Co Inc. www.yearroundpool.com

Respectfully submitted, Ken Rogner, Carecraft VP Networking and Education