Fleishhacker Pool

Fleishhacker Pool
Fleishhacker Pool and Bath House (closed) (1979)
Location within San Francisco
General information
Status	Destroyed
Architectural style	Mediterranean Revival
Location	Sloat Boulevard and Great Highway
Town or city	San Francisco, California
Country	United States
Coordinates	37.733477°N 122.505978°W / 37.733477; -122.505978
Construction started	1924
Completed	1925
Demolished	2000
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Earl Clements (Fleishhacker Pool) Clarence R. Ward and J. Harry Blohme (pool building and bath house)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
NRHP reference No.	79000529
Added to NRHP	December 31, 1979

Fleishhacker Pool or Delia Fleishhacker Memorial Building was a public saltwater swimming pool located in the southwest corner of San Francisco, California, United States, next to the San Francisco Zoo at Sloat Boulevard and the Great Highway. Upon its completion in 1925, it was one of the largest heated outdoor swimming pools in the world and remained open for more than four decades until its closure in 1971. It was eventually demolished in 2000.

Construction

It was built by philanthropist and civic leader Herbert Fleishhacker in 1924, and opened April 22, 1925. The pool measured 1,000 by 150 ft (300 by 50 m), held 6,500,000 US gal (25,000,000 L) of seawater, and accommodated 10,000 bathers. The pool was so large the lifeguards required rowboats for patrol, and was used by the military for drills and exercises. The pool water was pumped from the Pacific Ocean, filtered and heated. The pool's heater could warm 2,800 US gal (11,000 L) of seawater from 60 degrees to 75 degrees Fahrenheit each minute. This resulted in a constant pool water temperature of 72 degrees for AAU swim meets.

The water was provided by a series of pumps and piping at high tide, directly from the Pacific Ocean 650 ft (200 m) away. There was also a diving pool measuring 50 ft (15 m) square and 14 ft (4.3 m) deep and a two tiered diving tower.

Decline

Remains of Fleishhacker Pool Bath House, San Francisco. The building was burned down in December 2012. The rubble has been removed and all that remains is the framing around the main entrances. Photo taken from the San Francisco Zoo parking lot, facing West.

After years of underfunding and poor maintenance, the pool was showing some deterioration when a storm in January 1971 damaged its drainage pipe. Because the repair costs exceeded the City's budget, the pool was converted to a fresh water pool which resulted in poor water quality. As a result of the poor attempt at conversion and resulting water quality, the pool was closed by the end of 1971.

In 1999, the San Francisco Zoological Society was granted ownership of the pool house. The swimming pool itself was filled with rocks and gravel, with the space now serving as a parking lot for the zoo. The poolhouse was derelict, neglected, and occupied by the homeless for many years until it was destroyed by a fire on December 1, 2012. The remaining ruins were demolished, and only a fragment consisting of three ornate entrances remains to mark the site.

External links

• List of 26 photos of Fleishhacker Pool at Library of Congress
• Ocean Beach Bulletin: "Before Now – Fleishhacker Pool and its 6 million gallons"
• Terrastories.com: Contemporary photos of the Fleishhacker Bath House & History of the Pool
• SFgate.com: "Shrinkage: The vanishing swimming pools of San Francisco"