- February 4, 2025
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Before it became a hub for all things produce, the old Food Lion property — soon to become a Lucky's Market — housed a place people likely loved to make a splash in.
A couple weeks ago, Hawkins Construction discovered a pool at the Lucky's Market project, said superintendent Jeff Sims. Workers were digging in the property to put the grocery store's grease tap in place when they hit concrete. Due to its bright blue coloring, Sims determined it had to be a pool.
And while the Ormond-by-the-Sea resident has worked in construction for 40 years and has found objects like cars and buried tanks in past projects, this was a first.
“I’ve never found a swimming pool," Sims said.
He also wasn't aware there was one in that location, despite having lived in the area for 20 years.
While not much is known about it, the pool dates back to the 1950s when the Oceanside Country Club was known by another name — the Ellinor Village Country Club.
A book on the club's history from 1907-2007, written by Prudy Taylor Board, first mentions the olympic-sized pool in an account by country club member Tommie Shutt. She recalled joining Ellinor Village Country Club in 1951 and how much she loved swimming and golf.
"So we survived that first year without air conditioning or heat, and we survived the hurricane," she said in the book.
A brochure from the late 1950s advertises "swimming in the shimmering fresh water of the palm-lined swimming pool." It also notes the pool had been the site of past women's synchronized swimming championships. Photos from the country club's archives included in the book show that there was also a wading pool.
While the book doesn't contain any further mention of the pool, Board did note that in 1964, a year after Oceanside Country Club bought the golf course, the country club sold 1,450 feet of its Granada Avenue frontage for $445,000. Deed records also show that the parcel at 101 E. Granada Blvd. was sold in 1982 and 1988 before Food Lion acquired it in 1989 for over $2.25 million.
Sims assured the Lucky's project remains on track. Workers simply cut the bottom of the pool to put the grease trap in. A Lucky's Market spokesperson announced last October that the company aimed to have the store open sometime this spring.
