Crotona Park Pool and Bathhouse – Bronx NY

The Crotona Play Center in Crotona Park, 1700 Fulton Avenue at East 173rd Street, Bronx NY

Still in use (summers only) 83 years after it was designed and built by the WPA in 1934.

The Crotona Play Center on Fulton Avenue

Note the brickwork

Crotona Play Center entrance

It's closed for the winter; originally it was kept open all year round; during the off-season "the bathhouse serves as a gymnasium. In freezing weather the pools are ice-skating rinks and at other times serve for paddle tennis, shuffleboard, volleyball, basketball, and handball" [June 24, 1936, Press Release].

Crotona Pool bathhouse entry for women, closed for the winter and with the service counter boarded up.

Crotona Pool bathhouse entry for men, closed for the winter and with the service counter boarded up.

Crotona Play Center- Gallery above the bathhouse entrances

The inside of the Crotona Play Center entry gate

Although the WPA was constrained to work with the cheapest materials (such as concrete and low-quality bricks), the creativity of the designers and workers always shines through, as on every surface of this structure.

Another view of the Crotona Play Center gallery

Crotona Pool sign, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation

Crotona Park Play Center On Crotona Park West (Fulton Avenue) and East 173rd Street

Like many other WPA constructions (such as the Orchard Beach bathhouse and the Van Cortlandt Park grandstand) it has become somewhat discolored over the years due to the low quality of the constructions materials; the WPA saw its duty as spending as much of its budget as possible on employing people, which meant spending less on materials.

Crotona Play Center sign over the main entrance, 1700 Fulton Avenue, Bronx NY

Crotona Pool bathhouse entrance — complete with pelican — in Bathgate Playground

Closed-off entrance to the Crotona Pool grandstand for spectators at swim meets. Fulton Avenue between 172nd and 173rd Streets

Crotona Pool

Note the round New Deal frescoes in the alcoves.

Entrance to the Crotona Pool and Play Center in Crotona Park on Fulton Avenue, Bronx NY

The Crotona Park bathhouse photographed June 24, 2014, during renovations

Note the Arte Moderne pelican topping the white pedestal separating the women's and men's restrooms entrances. The big photos show the pool "now" and "then".

The seating area in front of the Crotona Park bathhouse, photographed during renovations

Detail at rear of the Crotona Park swimming pool bathhouse

Besides the pelican, note the fanciful brick work. A page on the Parks Department website says, “the bathhouse features animal-themed sculptural elements (still visible today) created by Frederick George Richard Roth that illustrate the WPA-funded art of the era.”

Brickwork at the entrance of Crotona Park's Bathgate Playground, adjacent to the Play Center's north side

Bathgate Playground entrance adjacent to the Crotona Park Play Center

Bathgate Playground entrance adjacent to the Crotona Park Play Center

Crotona Park Bathgate Playground (left) and Crotona Play Center (right), built by the WPA 1934-1941

Crotona Park Bathgate Playground

With spooky pelican obelisks by WPA sculptor Frederick George Richard Roth, similar to the pelicans on the bathhouse...

Crotona Park Bathhouse

The Crotona Park bathhouse photographed June 24, 2014, during renovations. Note the Arte Moderne pelican topping the white pedestal separating the women's and men's restrooms entrances. The big photos show the pool "now" and "then".

Crotona Park Pool

The 330-foot-long Crotona Park swimming pool, built in 1934-1936 by the WPA, photographed June 24, 2014; work underway to install new spray showers (yellowish area at left). On the left and lower right, a huge J-shaped concrete grandstand for swimming events. Rear and right, the bathouse designed by Aymar Embury II who also designed the Orchard Beach bathhouse and many other New York City landmarks of the 1930s.