The New York City Parks & Recreation Department through Armark and Rotolo Consulants, Inc. commissioned Counsilman-Hunsaker to provide facility assessments of nine individual, existing aquatic center facilities within the New York City Parks & Recreation system. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions at the time, a formal site visit was not conducted by the team of consultants. Because of the requirement to deliver final reports within 30-days for all facilities without any original construction drawings, Counsilman-Hunsaker’s experience working on other New York City Parks pool facilities gave the team an advantage in understanding the systems and making conservative assumptions when unknowns were encountered. In total, 14 pools were evaluated at the following nine facilities listed below with a combined pool area of 177,600 SF and volume of 5.2 million gallons of water:
1. Jackie Robinson Pool - 85 Bradhurst Ave., New York, NY 10039
Originally constructed in 1936 as part of the New Deal’s WPA program. The facility includes a 19,270 SF recreation pool and a 5,330 SF diving pool that has since been abandoned and replaced with a spray ground.
2. Roy Wilkins Pool - Baisley Blvd & 177th St, Jamaica, NY 11434
This facility was initially opened to the public in 1986, and the indoor pool was the first open to the public in southeast Queens. The pool consists of five 25 yard lap lanes.
3. Tony Dapolito Pool - 1 Clarkson St, New York, NY 10014
An update to Counsilman-Hunsaker’s 2014 assessment was provided for this 6,369 SF outdoor pool and 1,825 SF indoor pool. The pools were added to the facility in 1937, 16 years after it was initially constructed. Significant renovations were undertaken in the 1980’s.
4. Lyons Pool - 6 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10301
Lyons Pool was the largest outdoor pool on Staten Island, dating back to 1936 when it opened. A spray ground replaced the original wading pool, and the original diving pool is left empty and unused throughout the summer season.
5. Metropolitan Pool - 261 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Initially opened in 1922 as a public bath, NYC Parks took control in 1935 to operate the indoor pool as a recreation facility as a greater percentage of New York City residents had indoor plumbing. The pool is 2,250 SF and underwent a $5 million renovation recently.
6. Gertrude Ederle Pool - 232 W 60th St, New York, NY 10023
Originally opened in the early 20th century as a public bathhouse, the facility received a major renovation in 2009. The existing indoor pool is 2,100 SF and is heavily programmed and used by the Upper West Side community.
7. Betsy Head Pool - 694 Thomas S Boyland St, Brooklyn, NY 11212
This massive 54,450 SF, 1.84-million-gallon outdoor pool can fit over four 50-meter Olympic size pools within its footprint. The Betsy Head pool was originally opened in the summer of 1936, replacing an older Parks pool on the site dating back to 1915. The pool was rebuilt in 1939, just three years after it opened, due to a fire.
8. Hamilton Fish Pool - 128 Pitt St, New York, NY 10002
Another WPA facility located in Lower Manhattan, the pools were opened in the summer of 1936 and consisted of a 16,170 SF pool with a separate 5,500 SF diving pool that has been converted into a shallow water wading pool.
9. Sunset Park Pool - 4201 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Also originally opened in the summer of 1936, this 42,000 SF outdoor pool underwent a large renovation in 1984 to update the pool, bathhouse, and filtration system.
An opinion of probable construction cost was provided for recommended repairs for each pool to bring them up to current industry swimming pool design standards, and to maximize serviceability and longevity.