Boston Globe 12/2/10: Wayland’s dive into community pool fund-raising comes up a success. With two perennial state-championship swimming teams at Wayland High School, town residents know well the successes that can result from having a community pool. But with public funding for new pools nearly nonexistent, residents also knew they would have to be creative if they wanted to replace the town’s aging, money-losing facility, which had limited access for several years before being closed last spring. A local nonprofit group offered to build a new pool at the same site, next to the high school, using private funds that it would be in charge of raising. "There’s a strong heritage of swimming here in Wayland," said Ben Downs, chairman of Wayland Community Pool Inc., which formed under a different name in 2004 when it became apparent the town could not afford to maintain the old pool. On Saturday, a 12:15 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony will officially open its larger replacement, a $2.5 million, 10-lane pool with a removable bubble roof for summer use. About $1.6 million was covered by donations and labor contributions, with the remainder from a loan backed by the US Department of Agriculture.