Rogers Marvel Architects
McCARREN POOL & BATHHOUSE
Brooklyn, NY
McCarren Pool is a bath house and outdoor pool constructed during a WPA program providing new pool facilities throughout New York City. It was one of 11 city owned public pools opened in the summer of 1936 and is a New York City Landmark building. After nearly 50 years of operation, it was closed and vacated in 1983. In a $50 million investment by the PlaNYC initiative enabled the renewal and reopening of this beloved Brooklyn recreational destination in 2012. The rehabilitation preserved the historic bathhouse building and the grand entry archway. A year-round indoor recreation and community center now occupies the historic building, which is flanked by two new open-air changing pavilions on the pool deck. Inside the 50,843sf building, the community center contains a basketball court, weight and cardio areas as well as multipurpose meeting rooms and offices. The original wire storage baskets for swimmers were discovered and reused on the ceiling of the two building lobbies. Salvaged wood planks from the Coney Island boardwalk were refinished and now line many of the walls of the community rooms and pavilions. The original rectangular pool was turned into a giant U with a beach deck at its center. With a capacity for 1500 swimmers, the pool covers 37,571 square feet and holds over a million gallons of water, circulating at up to 6,000 gallons a minute. In the winter, the beach-deck can be transformed into an ice-skating rink and in the off-seasons it can host other large gatherings.
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