Tennessee man’s backyard pool grows into a 500,000-gallon water playground

Micky Thornton (inset) and his pool (right)Photo credit: Screen shot from WREG News Channel 3/ YouTube Most people who dream of a backyard pool imagine a simple rectangle with a diving board and a few lounge chairs. Micky Thornton imagined something far bigger. When he moved to Covington, Tennessee, in 1992, he wanted a place where his family could swim, but he also carried an idea from childhood that refused to stay small. By the time work began on Labor Day in 1993, Thornton was preparing to create a pond-sized water playground rather than an ordinary swimming pool.Nearly three decades later, that project had become a remarkable 500,000-gallon backyard pool built with 320 yards of gunite and 40,000 pounds of steel rebar. It includes rock-lined waterfalls, sprayers and a filtration system Thornton designed himself. According to WGN-TV and TurnTo23, the pool began as a family project but eventually became a destination for parties, weddings, reunions and baptisms. Read more Thornton and how he mde his childhood dream come true here:A childhood idea became a lifelong projectAs per the reports, Thornton said the idea first came to him when he was about nine or ten years old. He did n...