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#20281
Deepest pool in the world may be built in Aurora
Smithsgold - 2/26/2017 8:20 PM
Category: General
Replies: 2

Deepest pool in the world may be built in Aurora

chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/opi...20170208-column.html

m Elliott’s interest in Aurora runs deep.

I met the founder and president of Diveheart at poolside Saturday at the Fox Valley Park District’s Vaughan Center, where he and his volunteers were teaching a class from the DuPage County Veterans Center the ins and outs – and unders – of scuba diving.

Diveheart, founded by Elliott in 2001, has created an impressive name for itself throughout the country by helping those with illnesses and disabilities discover the therapeutic wonders that this underwater activity can provide.

But Elliott’s interest in Aurora goes far deeper than a park district pool.

For the past year he has been in close discussions with Shodeen Inc., the Geneva company that has been working with city officials to develop 34 acres on the east side of the Fox River in downtown Aurora.

Elliott’s goal: to build what he said would be the world’s deepest warm-water pool – 150 feet, to be exact – at the corner of Broadway and North Avenue that would be used for research, rehabilitation, education and training.

For those with limited mobility, the benefits of physical therapy in a zero gravity environment is well-documented. And more recent research from leading universities, including Johns Hopkins, shows that scuba diving has unique effects on the minds and bodies of those with many types of disabilities, including chronic pain, spinal cord paralysis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, autism, PTSD and brain injuries.