Recreation and Parks Commission to Deliberate on Plan for Robinson Park Pool Project

Pasadena city staff is asking the Recreation and Parks Commission to support the conceptual plan for the Robinson Park Pool and Pool Building Renovation Project.

“The facility was designed and built in the mid-1970s, is outdated, and no longer serves the needs of the community,” according to a city staff report. “The Robinson Park Pool and Pool Building Renovation project will update the existing facility with a new pool and renovated pool building. The newly updated facility will be fully accessible and designed to meet the needs of the surrounding community.”

The work is expected to be completed this year, according to a memo from Kris Markarian, acting director of the Public Works Department, to City Manager Steve Mermell 

When completed, the existing pool will be replaced with a new 4,141 square-foot pool that includes zero-entry access to provide for toddler, senior, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) activities, lanes for lap swimming, a new high-efficiency heating system, a new pool deck with deck showers, and a facility perimeter wall.

The project includes the demolition and replacement of the existing pool; pool deck and perimeter fencing; renovation of the existing pool building; and construction of a 900 square-foot pool equipment storage building. 

The pool building renovation includes updated interior and exterior finishes, new plumbing, new lighting fixtures, an updated entry lobby with a canopy, and a guest check-in window.

The pool building also includes new breezeway entries providing a safer, fully accessible path of travel in and out of the facility, updated lifeguard offices, and two new family/gender-neutral restrooms accessible from the pool deck.

“The new pool facility is designed to accommodate a wide range of community activities including, but not limited to the following: water fitness classes; lap swimming; all levels of swimming lessons and lifeguard training; and community swimming,” according to the staff report. 

Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2022. The project is expected to be completed in spring 2023.

In June, Councilmember John Kennedy said the new pool could play a key part in teaching African-American children to swim at a young age.

“Minority children, particularly those who are African American, are drowning in significant numbers across this country every year caused by the remnants of racist public policies of old, concerning access to public swimming pools, still impacting communities of color today,” Kennedy said. “Those racist policies cannot be overlooked.”

Black Americans are about half as likely to know how to swim as white Americans, Professor Jeff Wiltse of the University of Montana and author of “Contested Waters” told ABC News. 

According to Wiltse, Black children, depending on their age, are three to five times more likely to drown than white children.

Two years ago, the City Council voted to appropriate residential impact fees from the Lincoln Properties Development to the Robinson Park project and several others as part of the 2019 capital improvement program.

Robinson Park first opened in 1974 and was renovated in 2009.