Fleishhacker Pool was a public saltwater swimming pool complex, located in the southwest corner of

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, next to the

San Francisco Zoo The San Francisco Zoo and Gardens is a zoo located on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, in the southwestern corner of the city between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. The zoo's main entrance (o ...

at Sloat Boulevard and the Great Highway. Upon its completion in 1925, it was one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in the world; it remained open for more than four decades until its closure in 1971. It was demolished in 2000.

Context

In 1921, the Spring Valley Water Company finalized its project to "water" San Francisco with Yosemite spring water, and donated the pool's land to the city as part of this gigantic structural project.

Construction

The Fleishhacker Pool and the Fleishhacker Playfield complex were built by

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and

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leader Herbert Fleishhacker in 1924, and opened on April 22, 1925. The pool measured and held of

seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...

, and accommodated 10,000 bathers. At its opening it was the largest swimming pool in the United States and one of the largest (in theory) heated outdoor pools in the world. It had a diving pool measuring square and deep with a two-tiered diving tower. The pool was so large the lifeguards required rowboats for patrol and it was used by the military for drills and exercises. The water was provided by a series of pumps and piping at

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

, directly from the

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away, filtered, and heated. The pool's heater could warm of seawater from each minute, in theory providing a constant pool water temperature of , though in practice it tended to vary between , which was sometimes too cold for comfortable swimming. The Mother’s Building (also known as the Delia Fleishhacker Memorial Building) was built next to the children's wading pool; the building served as a lounge for mothers and small children. With The wading pool was removed in 1940; and it was replaced by the children's zoo by 1960.

Decline

After years of underfunding and poor maintenance, the pool was showing some deterioration when a storm in January 1971 damaged its drainage pipe. Usage of the pool had been low, and the repair costs exceeded the City's budget, so the pool was converted to fresh water, resulting in poor water quality; it 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 pool house stood derelict and occupied by wildlife and homeless people for many years, until it was destroyed by a fire on December 1, 2012. The remaining ruins were demolished, but a fragment of the pool house still exists consisting of three ornate entrances. The only remaining structure left from the Fleishhacker Pool complex is the Mother’s Building, presently located within the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens.

References

External links

Guidelines-Newsletter for San Francisco Guides and Sponsors: "Fleishhacker Pool" by James Smith
{{commonscat, Fleishhacker Pool, position=left Demolished buildings and structures in San Francisco Swimming venues in San Francisco Culture of San Francisco Sunset District, San Francisco 1920s architecture in the United States Mediterranean Revival architecture in California Buildings and structures demolished in 2000