Constructed in 1927, Griffith Park Pool was originally the biggest aquatic facility in Los Angeles. However, it has remained dry since 2020. Residents are now realizing that it won’t be filled again when the summer heat builds.
Instead, the city is planning a $28 million project to rebuild the two-story pool house next door and remove the existing pool and replace it with two smaller new pools and a splash pad. The project is expected to start in the summer of 2026 and be finished in January 2028, according to city officials.
However, the pool is currently listed as closed until further notice on the city’s Recreation and Parks Department website. According to a representative of the Bureau of Engineering, the city has not yet selected a builder.
The property was originally slated to reopen in June 2022, but the current proposal represents a significant change. Before that date, city workers discovered that the pool had a broken foundation that was too bad to fix, according to the Eastsider news site.
Assistant General Manager Cathie Santo Domingo and a maintenance crew found the pool’s cracks, according to Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson Rose Watson. Watson claimed that each time they filled it up, the water would not stay in it.
Working-class families in Los Feliz, Atwater, Silver Lake, and East Hollywood have long relied on the public pool for summer relaxation, and neighbors have voiced their displeasure and signed a petition during the shutdown.
I was always curious about what was going on with that. Christine Perez of Los Feliz, who was with her 22-month-old son, Miles, at a playground by the pool on Monday, remarked, “I’ve never seen water in it.” Last week, I was actually thinking that having a splash pad down here would be fantastic.
Marian Dodge, board secretary and former president of the Friends of Griffith Park, stated that children need a place to go and a place to learn how to swim. According to her, the team is ecstatic that they will finally proceed with the required repairs. The complete funding has been confirmed to us.
The new project will involve demolition and reconstruction, the installation of a new competition pool measuring 25 yards by 50 meters (up to 12.5 feet deep) and a training pool splash pad measuring 25 yards by 25 meters (up to 5 feet deep), as well as the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the site’s two-story Spanish-style pool house, as well as upgrades to the shower and changing areas and ADA accessibility, according to a city Bureau of Engineering report.
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With electric pool heaters, salt water, and UV light water treatment, the new pools are designed to withstand year-round use.
The 225-by-48-foot pool near Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Boulevard has long been referred to as the Municipal Plunge. Prior to the construction of Hansen Dam Recreation Area in 1940 in the San Fernando Valley’s Lake View Terrace neighborhood, it was the biggest aquatic facility in the city.
Did you know that the pool is directly behind the L.A. River? Dodge stated. They couldn’t concrete the river behind the pool because of the extremely high water level. Consequently, the pool was compared to a concrete boat floating on top of this muck and sand when it was constructed. At first, it was quite dangerous, but they went ahead.
The pool’s capacity was once estimated to be 562 people.
According to Dodge, they would participate in water parades and canoeing lessons.
Prior to the city closing several recreation centers in the early stages of the pandemic in late March 2020, the pool was open. It is now surrounded by tennis courts, a playground, a soccer field, and Los Feliz Nursery School. It is in District 4 of the City Council, which Nithya Raman represents.
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The city Board of Public Works approved the employment of Perkins Eastman on May 21 to complete the $2.4 million engineering and architectural design work for the bathhouse and pools.
The park’s merry-go-round and spony rides have been inactive since 2022 for a variety of reasons, so Dodge said the prospect of improvement on the pool is reassuring. The L.A. Zoo, located in Griffith Park as well, is still operating but is embroiled in a financial dispute between the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association and the city.
The city manages eight splash pads and 57 pools in total—28 seasonal, 26 year-round, and three camp pools. Eight of the pools were closed as of July 2.
Echo Park, Hollywood, and Glassell Park are the closest city-run swimming pools to Griffith Park. Additionally, Griffith Park has pools at Griffith Park Boys Camp and Camp Hollywoodland.
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