THE CITY WEEKLY DESK/ The New York Times
A Long-Dry Pool, With a Famous Past, Faces the Future
Published: December 17, 2000
McCarren Park Pool, on the border between Williamsburg and Greenpoint, has seen better days. Built in 1936, it was one of 11 giant outdoor pools constructed by the Works Progress Administration during Robert Moses' tenure as parks commissioner. Able to hold up to 6,800 swimmers, the pool had a design that was inspired in part by the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.
It's hard to imagine that the abandoned, graffiti-covered structure, closed since 1983 and still under the control of the Parks Department, was once the neighborhood hub. The 10 other pools were rehabilitated in the 80's and 90's, but the renovation of the McCarren Park Pool was stalled because of continuing community disputes.
''McCarren Pool is known all over the world,'' said Phyllis Yampolsky, who founded Independent Friends of McCarren Park in 1989 to save the pool from demolition. Her group's plan, designed by the renowned architect Robert A. M. Stern, would preserve the existing red brick structure and make additions consistent with its classical style.
But Bob Bratko, chairman of another local group with a pool plan, the McCarren Park Pool Task Force, says the building is dangerously dilapidated and should be torn down, except for its central arch.
While both plans reduce the original size of the pool, creating space for additional facilities like skating rinks, they differ in other respects.
For example, the Yampolsky plan would have a central plaza with seats, a fountain and a statue of Mae West, a Greenpoint native, while the task force would erect a building with locker rooms and space for community meetings. The Yampolsky proposal would also have an outdoor amphitheater and, in an existing wing, an indoor movie theater and exhibition space; the task force plan would have no such facilities.
Finally, the Yampolsky design envisions the pool as a public and private venture with a restaurant, health club and shops, while the task force would most likely have the Parks Department operate the site.
Both sides plan to present their plans in various community forums next month. Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern said he would consider local sentiment, but added that his department was studying alternative uses like a roller hockey rink or a skateboard park for a site.
Al Calderin, who grew up in Williamsburg and wants to preserve the pool building, remembers paying 10 cents to get into McCarren. ''It was a great pool,'' he said. HANNAH WALLACE
Photo: McCarren Park Pool, closed since 1983, could hold up to 6,800 swimmers in its heyday. (New York City Parks Department Photo Archives)
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