ems_cougar
Guest
This is what I was told over the years.....true? You decide.
The lake was origionaly developed as a sand pit. A lot of the dirt that was pulled out, before they hit sand, was used to build the original overpasses for Loop 610. I have personally seen maps of the construction roads at the bottom of the pit, before the construction crews hit and underground spring. The pit was once about 90 feet deep. When the spring was hit, the pit filled with water so rapidly, a lot of the heavy equipment was left where it was sitting. The project was abandoned, and the area, now a lake, instead of a pit, became a hangout for locals teens, bikers, partyers, lovers, skinny dippers, etc. There was no real supervision or control, just a pit in the middle of a field. Drugs and alcohol became a big part of visiting "The Pit" which drew attention to itself, due to several drownings. As I understand it, the actual owner of the property owns a gun/scuba shop in pasadea, and ended up leasing the property to Peter and Julie Shore. Pete began inviting scuba divers/classes out to take a plunge, and also started sinking some things for the divers to look at. I became a certified Scuba Diver in 1987, And I DO seem to remember Ben Sutton taking us out to a place called The Pit, and we looked at a sunken school bus, and I think a boat.
I would not actually meet Pete Shore until 9 years later. I had the summer off, and I thought it would be really cool to regain my Lifeguard status, and end my career at an open lake. I was pretty much too old to work anywhere else.....even though, at 32, I went ahead and took the course at Water World, and came out top of my class against the 18 year olds!! hahahahha!!
Pete hired me on at 3 times what WW was paying, and Well, it was not my last season, I had four --more than wonderful-- seasons as a Life Guard for The Reef, before going full time into Emergency Medical Services, and Becoming the EMS provider for the lake, with my own Ambulance, for 2 more seasons.
WHY Pete changed the name to "The Reef" he never told me. But I know He CRINGED every time he heard the name "The Pit". When I went to the pit back in 1987, I do not recall any buildings or anything, just a PIT....so I am going to assume that Pete built it into what it is today. He told me stories about going to the Comal river and picking up truck loads of the fresh wate rkelp, and hauling butt out of there before they got caught! He really wanted to work on water clarity, including trying an aerator in the middle of the lake (which failed) and trying to stock with lots of fish. His Idea was Water + Oxygen = Water Clarity.
The sides of the lake were caving in.....the lake was settling. Pete tried dumping HUNDREDS of tires along the sides in an effort to solidify the edges, including allowing construction crews to dump thousands of pounds of discarded concrete, complete with rebarb sticking out, in his effort. Both major mistakes sorely regreted.
The lake silted in, and settled at about 40 ft deep. The aqua plants "borrowed" from the comal river took over most of the bottom of the lake. Pete began to sink more objects for divers to look at. He sunk a 40 ft cabin cruiser and several cars, and a few 17-20 foot ski boats. Ha always denied that there was a plane down there, and I never found one. I did a lot of the "Tagging" of the underwater stuff, with ropes and bouys. Then another mishap. The west wall along the volly ball courts began eroding. Pete went into action....but alsas, like A lot of the quick fixes...used cheap materials, and unskilled labor, built a retaining wall and filled it in. The water came up, and it worked GREAT.....until the off season where the water level drops 8-10 ft, and the wall had earth pushing on one side and air on the other.....creak, crack, kaboom....no more retaining wall, more garbage on the bottom of the lake
I sat there for almost 8 years total....watching Pete struggle with this lake, helping out where I could, devoting a LOT of time. I love that lake, and there is a lot of myself in it. I understand the new Owner's name is Nancy. I do hope to meet her some day soon. I would like to visit the lake again. I hope to see the lake reach it's full potential.
I was devestated when I learned that Pete had passed away by his own hand. For what ever reason (and I've heard a lot) the one thing I know is that Pete would have wanted to see the lake finally make a very positive impact on the community, and for someone to step in and make that happen.
Good luck to Nancy, and hey.....you guys/gals help support the lake, it's a landmark and means a lot to a lot of people.
Cougar!!
P.S. as far as the geese go,.... Pete would find the nests, make nests, take the eggs and incubate them, raise the babies in cages and exercise them in tubs till they were strong enough to hit the lake on thier own. I am afraid, that with out his interaction on this part of the lake's ecosystem.... the geese may not return, or be "replenished" unless someone can take over that labor.
The lake was origionaly developed as a sand pit. A lot of the dirt that was pulled out, before they hit sand, was used to build the original overpasses for Loop 610. I have personally seen maps of the construction roads at the bottom of the pit, before the construction crews hit and underground spring. The pit was once about 90 feet deep. When the spring was hit, the pit filled with water so rapidly, a lot of the heavy equipment was left where it was sitting. The project was abandoned, and the area, now a lake, instead of a pit, became a hangout for locals teens, bikers, partyers, lovers, skinny dippers, etc. There was no real supervision or control, just a pit in the middle of a field. Drugs and alcohol became a big part of visiting "The Pit" which drew attention to itself, due to several drownings. As I understand it, the actual owner of the property owns a gun/scuba shop in pasadea, and ended up leasing the property to Peter and Julie Shore. Pete began inviting scuba divers/classes out to take a plunge, and also started sinking some things for the divers to look at. I became a certified Scuba Diver in 1987, And I DO seem to remember Ben Sutton taking us out to a place called The Pit, and we looked at a sunken school bus, and I think a boat.
I would not actually meet Pete Shore until 9 years later. I had the summer off, and I thought it would be really cool to regain my Lifeguard status, and end my career at an open lake. I was pretty much too old to work anywhere else.....even though, at 32, I went ahead and took the course at Water World, and came out top of my class against the 18 year olds!! hahahahha!!
Pete hired me on at 3 times what WW was paying, and Well, it was not my last season, I had four --more than wonderful-- seasons as a Life Guard for The Reef, before going full time into Emergency Medical Services, and Becoming the EMS provider for the lake, with my own Ambulance, for 2 more seasons.
WHY Pete changed the name to "The Reef" he never told me. But I know He CRINGED every time he heard the name "The Pit". When I went to the pit back in 1987, I do not recall any buildings or anything, just a PIT....so I am going to assume that Pete built it into what it is today. He told me stories about going to the Comal river and picking up truck loads of the fresh wate rkelp, and hauling butt out of there before they got caught! He really wanted to work on water clarity, including trying an aerator in the middle of the lake (which failed) and trying to stock with lots of fish. His Idea was Water + Oxygen = Water Clarity.
The sides of the lake were caving in.....the lake was settling. Pete tried dumping HUNDREDS of tires along the sides in an effort to solidify the edges, including allowing construction crews to dump thousands of pounds of discarded concrete, complete with rebarb sticking out, in his effort. Both major mistakes sorely regreted.
The lake silted in, and settled at about 40 ft deep. The aqua plants "borrowed" from the comal river took over most of the bottom of the lake. Pete began to sink more objects for divers to look at. He sunk a 40 ft cabin cruiser and several cars, and a few 17-20 foot ski boats. Ha always denied that there was a plane down there, and I never found one. I did a lot of the "Tagging" of the underwater stuff, with ropes and bouys. Then another mishap. The west wall along the volly ball courts began eroding. Pete went into action....but alsas, like A lot of the quick fixes...used cheap materials, and unskilled labor, built a retaining wall and filled it in. The water came up, and it worked GREAT.....until the off season where the water level drops 8-10 ft, and the wall had earth pushing on one side and air on the other.....creak, crack, kaboom....no more retaining wall, more garbage on the bottom of the lake
I sat there for almost 8 years total....watching Pete struggle with this lake, helping out where I could, devoting a LOT of time. I love that lake, and there is a lot of myself in it. I understand the new Owner's name is Nancy. I do hope to meet her some day soon. I would like to visit the lake again. I hope to see the lake reach it's full potential.
I was devestated when I learned that Pete had passed away by his own hand. For what ever reason (and I've heard a lot) the one thing I know is that Pete would have wanted to see the lake finally make a very positive impact on the community, and for someone to step in and make that happen.
Good luck to Nancy, and hey.....you guys/gals help support the lake, it's a landmark and means a lot to a lot of people.
Cougar!!
P.S. as far as the geese go,.... Pete would find the nests, make nests, take the eggs and incubate them, raise the babies in cages and exercise them in tubs till they were strong enough to hit the lake on thier own. I am afraid, that with out his interaction on this part of the lake's ecosystem.... the geese may not return, or be "replenished" unless someone can take over that labor.
