Swimming Pools Sites

Takoma Recreation Center is a large public recreational facility in Washington D.C., containing buildings, swimming pool, tennis courts and other facilities. New Deal agencies did extensive work on the site, 1933-36, as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program assisted by the Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The WPA alone undertook a million dollar program of improvements to district parks in 1935-36. The work at Takoma Recreation Center included: "Swimming pools and field house constructed; baseball diamonds, athletic fields graded and equipment installed; landscaping and lawn area at field house constructed; parking areas...

"In 1933, thanks to labor provided by the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration, PIPC was able to transform the former quarry site into a popular recreation center, with a swimming pool, picnic areas, and facilities for field and court games."

The WPA project in Jefferson Park "included the new pool complex, baseball diamonds, other athletic fields, playgrounds, and bocce courts." The pool opened on June 27, 1936. It was the second of 10 WPA pools to open that summer, and one of 11 WPA-pools to open in New York City (NYC Parks & Recreation).    

Tony Dapolito Recreation Center is located at the northwest corner of 7th Ave. S and Clarkson Street in Manhattan. The large outdoor pool was built by the WPA and designed by Aymar Embury II. The Department of Parks announced the official opening of the new pool and renovated bathhouse on June 10, 1939. The ceremony was attended by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, Alexander MacGregor of the Works Progress Administration and others. The press release described the WPA's work on the site: "The new outdoor pool is 50' x 100' with a diving pool 50' x 26' and will provide much needed...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)'s Camp Robinson, which housed Company #180, was stationed at Tunxis State Forest in Hartland, Connecticut. The camp was established June 13, 1933 and was discontinued July 18, 1941. Among other projects independently listed on other pages, work included: "12 miles of truck trails including today's ... Hall Road, construction of a house for the Forest Ranger, and miles of cross-country ski trails." The ski cabin and ski trail remain today. Other improvements included access roads and a cross country ski loop trail.

ParkRec.nd.gov: "Established in 1934, Turtle River State Park was one of a number of new parks built in North Dakota under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal" programs. ... In 1935, a CCC transient work camp, SP-5, was built in Larimore. It initially housed 185 young men, along with their commanding officers. They were assigned to build a new park nearby, originally called Grand Forks State Park. CCC construction projects in the park included bridges, roads, parking areas, foot paths and a number of stone and log buildings, many of which are still in use today. One of their notable achievements was the...

A project grant of $20,000 supported the construction of an Olympic-sized swimming pool west of the gymnasium in July 1936.

This outdoor, one acre, "flow-through" pool was constructed by the WPA in 1937-38 on the UNH campus near the center of town. It has been a popular site ever since. This summer, the university announced plans to close the pool, but there is an ongoing, and growing effort to preserve this historic site.

The Public Works Administration funded the University of Northern Iowa Women's Gymnasium Improvements and Pool Addition in Cedar Falls IA. The building now houses the university's Innovation Teaching and Technology Center. "In August 1935, the Board of Education announced plans for a large remodeling project for the Women's Gymnasium.  The basement would be devoted entirely to dressing rooms.  New floors and fireproof stairs would be installed.  And an addition would be put onto the west side of the building to house a 36 X 90 foot swimming pool, with seating for five hundred spectators.  The pool would be three feet six...

In 1940, the Work Projects Administration (WPA) built the Urho Saari Swim Stadium in El Segundo, CA. It was named after the world famous swimming and water polo coach. Today, the 25-yard pool—known as "the Plunge"—is administered by the El Segundo Recreation and Parks Department. It closed for extensive renovations in 2021 and is expected to re-open in 2025. There are two bas-reliefs at the entrance to the stadium, of a male and female swimmer; it is unknown whether they are New Deal art projects.

"In 1924 a group of prominent Los Angeles African Americans, led by actor and real estate developer Sidney P. Dones and including Norman O. Houston, Joe and Charlotta Bass, Hattie S. Baldwin among others, bought 1,000 acres in Santa Clarita Valley forty miles north of the city to build a vacation resort for African Americans. These investors, who called their proposed community Eureka Villa, envisioned a resort area of cabins located on half-acre lots, free from the prejudices and restrictions of the city. The resort featured a community house, tennis courts, baseball fields, hiking trails and a nine-hole golf course....

In 1936 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a wading pool in the "city park" in Scottsbluff. Living New Deal believes this to mean what is now known as Pioneer Park as the project is mentioned in conjunction with a museum that was another Pioneer Park project. The pool appears to no longer be extant.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) had a great impact on War Memorial Park. "During the 1930s the original zoo buildings, the golf clubhouse, the bathhouse and the swimming pool were constructed by WPA workers." The W.P.A. likely undertook other construction projects at the project as well, such as stone walls and the 1940 bridge carrying "Club House Drive" over Coleman Creek.

The Works Progress Administration built a municipal pool in Buffalo, Johnson County. Today the pool is still in service under the name Washington Memorial Park Swimming Pool. Living New Deal believes the pool was constructed in conjunction with WPA work undertaken at the City Park.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed what was then known as the V.F.W. Pool at George Washington Park in Casper, Wyoming, in 1934. Work relief labor conducted additional development work at Washington Park. Casper Star-Tribune, March 3, 1935, discussing work relief projects from 1934: "Within the park is the Veterans of Foreign Wars' swimming pool and dressing-room building, the latter requiring an outlay of $15,978 last year." The status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

Westenfield Corporation initially developed Westenfield Park in 1932, and the City of Austin operated the swimming pool that year. The City of Austin acquired the park in 1937. The Austin Recreation Department worked with the National Youth Administration in the same year to build the original playground and do work on the swimming pool. The swimming pool was replaced in 2013-2014 due to cracks, leaks and plumbing problems in the 80-year old pool. The playground equipment has also been updated.

"A Public Works Administration grant of $42,545 was allocated for a pool at Wheeling Park to replace the obsolete facility that dated to the early 1900s. The grant was matched locally by a gift of $52,000 from businessman W.E. Stone. When the pool opened in 1937, a couple of months before the Oglebay pool, it was hailed by the local press as “...the largest and most modern in this section” (this pool was replaced in 1968)." "When it opened, the Wheeling Park pool was the largest and most modern in the area, attracting hundreds of thousands of bathers over a thirty-year...

Municipal reports for the town of Concord document extensive New Deal improvements in White Park. In 1935, the entrance to White Park at the corner of Center and High streets was remodeled. In 1936, the PWA completed a cement bathing pool in White Park. In June of 1937, the WPA completed a new administration building for the park, "furnished and equipped so at the end of the year the City of Concord has the foundation for one of the best service bureaus in tree surgery, insect control, tree and flower preservation and propagation in this section of the country. The new...

The park's swimming pool and bathhouse were constructed by the WPA in 1939-1940, and are still in use. According to the Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination, "The bathhouse has three rooms and is a single-story, rectangular...structure constructed of uncut native stone of auburn and buff colors with beaded mortar... The swimming pool is constructed of concrete and is rectangular... A stone wall lining was built around this pool. A new fence has been added."   (https://www.okhistory.org)

In the mid-1930s the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided support for the construction of a 495 ft. long rock wall, several rock picnic benches, two full-sized tennis courts, and a large bathhouse with pool in Woodland Park. The Waymarking webpage for this site describes the improvements and the contemporary condition of the facilities as follows: "The bathhouse is 143 x 116 with an extended central wing with the main entrance. This is a one-story building with uncoursed native sandstone walls, with beaded mortar. The flat roof has been covered with green aluminum in later years. At the center of the building, there is a dogtrot...

"Zimmerman Playground, a block east of Bronx Park on the south side of Britton Street between Barker and Olinville Avenues. One of nine War Memorial Playgrounds opened by Mayor LaGuardia on July 15, 1934. The Parks Department press release credits the 'Works Division of the Department of Public Welfare' for some of the labor. Beyond that, there is no mention of how the playgrounds were designed and built. But by the reasoning laid out here, it's almost inconceivable that federally-funded work relief was not involved. But in any case, the playground was expanded a few years later, as described in a...