Tag Archives: pools

End of summer swimming notes: Medgar Evers Pool reopens, last days of the Leschi Fire Dock

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Final days for the old Leschi Fire Dock

Here are updates on two Central District-area parks construction projects involving longer than expected timelines — and swimming.

  • Medgar Evers Pool reopens after 10-month closure: On 23rd Ave’s Garfield High School and Community Center campus, the public Medgar Evers Pool has finally reopened after a longer-than-expected construction closure. CHS reported in March how a planned “8-week closure” for planned upgrades was stretching out for months after “failing” beams” were found in the roof structure of the 56-year-old public pool. Closed since last November for the beam repair plus accessibility improvements, HVAC replacement, and renovation of the men’s and women’s locker rooms, the pool has reopened for its full schedule of open swim, classes, and more. We’ve asked the city for the final price tag on the overhaul and repairs. Learn more at seattle.gov. UPDATE: SPR put the construction budget at $600,000.
  • Goodbye to the Leschi Fire Dock: The $7.9 million overhaul at Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Leschi South Marina is ready to go back into motion after the work was paused in May over community outcry about the construction project’s impact on nearby businesses. Tell your kids this is their last chance to enjoy the marina’s popular — and very old — swim dock before construction work begins on the project on Monday. The project is a significant undertaking with plans to remove the existing timber pier and floating dock, “which are supported by creosote-treated piles and are nearing the end of their useful life.” The existing pipe pile breakwater, which the city says does not “adequately protect the marina from wave action,” will also be removed. A new breakwater with a boat sewage pump-out facility, and boat moorage with public access will be floated with benches and a kayak rack. As part of the project, divers are also removing trash from the area as well as the creosote timber. There are no details on how the new dock setup will accommodate Leschi’s old Fire Dock summer swim crowds. “Teen hangout” wasn’t included in the city’s community priorities for the project. There’s also no telling why the southern dock at Leschi has been known as the Fire Dock. It never served as moorage for the Seattle Fire Department’s freshwater marine response on Lake Washington or any other related possibilities, according to city records.
 
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Seattle Parks says failing beams mean ‘8-week’ closure of Medgar Evers Pool will stretch into summer

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(Image: City of Seattle)

The Central District and Capitol Hill area’s only public swimming facility was supposed to reopen earlier this year after a planned eight-week, $1.4 million overhaul but the city’s parks department says additional work needed at Medgar Evers Pool will keep it closed until summer.

Seattle Parks and Recreation announced the extended closure saying that “failing” beams were found in the roof structure of the 56-year-old public pool. That additional work will be a big deal.There’s no budget detailed for the repair. Continue reading →

Cal Anderson’s wading pool will remain dry this summer — Here’s how a new way to stay cool in the park is coming together

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With reporting by Nova Berger/CHS Intern

As the Seattle Parks Department and community and business groups work to make improvements and add new features to bring more activity to Cal Anderson and help address public safety issues around the busy Capitol Hill park, there is a big, wet opportunity right there and waiting this summer.

The Cal Anderson Park Alliance is working on early planning for reactivating — or replacing — the park’s wading pool that has sat dry for years thanks to a confluence of budget issues and needed repairs and construction.

The pool was officially drained and closed in 2020 as part of the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CAPA is now leading efforts to explore the future of the wading pool. They are working with the city to evaluate options for the space that they hope will improve the park while also providing a needed resource when temperatures soar in the neighborhood. Continue reading →

The Central District’s Medgar Evers Pool is back after a much longer than expected construction closure

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(Image: City of Seattle)

Until they transform the Volunteer Park reservoir for swimming — and they’re not going to do that, unfortunately — the Central District’s Medgar Evers Pool will remain a one of a kind asset. It returned to service after a much longer than anticipated absence for much needed repairs.

Shut down for what was expected to be an 18-week closure last December, the pool’s reopening was delayed due to the amount of deterioration work crews found in the facility and by a major water leak discovered at the end of the project, the city says. Continue reading →