Built in 1927 and once the largest aquatic facility in Los Angeles, the historic Griffith Park Pool has been dry since 2020. Now, as summer heats up, residents are learning that it will not be filled again.
Instead, the city is planning a $28 million project to destroy it and build two small new pools and a splash pad at the site, rebuilding the two-storey pool house next door. City officials hope to commence the project in the summer of 2026 and complete it in January 2028.
But for now, the city’s Recreation and Parks department website simply lists the pool as “closed until further notice.” A spokesman for the Department of Engineering said the city has not yet selected a builder.
The Griffith Park Pool, which closed in 2020, was still dry on July 1st.
(Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times)
This new plan marks the sharp turn of the site, which was once scheduled to resume in June 2022. Up until that date, the Eastsider news site was the first to report.
Rose Watson, a spokeswoman for the Recreation and Parks Department, said the department’s assistant general manager, Cathy Santo Domingo, and the maintenance team discovered a crack in the pool. “Every time they fill it, it doesn’t hold water,” Watson said.
During the closure, neighbors appealed and signed the petition, lamenting that working-class families in Roth Ferris, Atwater, Silver Lake and East Hollywood have long relied on the public pool for summer relief.
“I always wondered what was going on. I’d never seen the water,” said Christine Perez of Ross Feliz, who was on a playground Monday near the pool with her 22-month-old son, Miles. “I thought it would be great if there was a splash pad here last week.”
“Kids need places to go and learn to swim,” said Marian Dodge, secretary and former president of Griffith Park in Griffith Park. She said the group “is actually excited that they’ll finally move on and get the necessary repairs…We’re sure it’s fully funded.”
According to a report from the city’s Department of Engineering, the new project will include “demolition and reconstruction,” replacing the old pool with a new competitive pool of 25 yards x 50 meters (up to 12.5 feet deep), and the “training pool” splash pad, 25 yards x 25 feet deep (up to 5 feet deep), with reconstruction of the two-storey area and rehabilitation of the ranked pool.
The new pool is intended to incorporate electric pool heaters, salt water and UV light water treatment to treat year-round use.
Long known as the Municipal Plunge, the Riverside Drive and Ross Ferris Boulevard pools are approximately 225 feet x 48 feet. It was the city’s largest aquatic facility until it arrived at the Hansendam Recreation Area, which was built in the Lakeview Terrace area of the San Fernando Valley in 1940.
“Did you know that the LA River runs right behind the pool?” Dodge said. “The water level behind the pool was very high and we couldn’t embody the river into the river.” As a result, when the pool was built, it was described as a concrete boat floating on this sand and mud. It was a bit dangerous at first, but they did it.”
At one point, the pool capacity reached 562 people.
“They’ll have canoe lessons and a water parade,” Dodge said.
Currently, the pool was open until late March 2020, as tennis courts, playgrounds, soccer fields and schools at Los Ferris Nursery were adjacent. It is located in City Council District 4, represented by Neecha Raman.
On May 21, the city’s Public Works Commission hired Perkins Eastman to perform $2.4 million in architectural design and engineering work in the pool and bathhouse.
The idea of advancement in the pool is comforting, and Dodge has both been closed since 2022 for a variety of reasons given the idle state of pony rides and merry-go-rounds in the park. Lazzo, also located in Griffith Park, remains open in the legal battle over money between the city and the Los Angeles Zoo.
In all, the city operates 57 pools (28 seasons, 26 camp pools, and 3 camp pools) and 8 splash pads. As of July 2nd, eight pools had been closed.
The nearest city-run pools from Griffith Park to Griffith Park are Echo Park, Hollywood and Grassel Park. Griffith Park also includes the pools at Camp Hollywoodland and Griffith Park Boys Camp.
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