What was once a lively neighborhood resource is now a big, empty hole in the ground--but in that emptiness, the community sees potential for once-again greatness.
The Leslie Park Pool in Lawrenceville closed in 2003. Sixteen Pittsburgh pools were decommissioned that year. Some, such as Polish Hill, have reopened, and others, such as Troy Hill, have been converted in spray parks. But Lawrenceville's Leslie Park Pool has sat vacant above Butler Street next to the Allegheny Cemetery since shuttering.
Neighborhood residents Susan Englert and Deborah Knox are now spearheading an initiative to re-imagine and redevelop the pool. Inspired by the decommissioned McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn being used as a concert venue and undergoing renovations to restore it as a swimming facility, Englert decided to stage a one-time event at the Lawrenceville pool over the summer. The inimitable Accordion Pool Party attracted lots of attention for the site, and also involved a clean-up that resulted in about 600 pounds of trash being pulled from the property.
Councilman Patrick Dowd and Duane Ashley, then-director of Pittsburgh Parks and Recreation, encouraged the friends to pursue revitalization beyond the party. "They sat us down and said you can't just do a one-time event," says Englert. "They said the pool had been largely forgotten because it sits so far back from the street, but now people will pay attention and care. They insisted we take it in front of a committee and get to support and attempt to develop it into something that will be a year-round community resource."
Two community meetings--with about 30 attendees each--took place in January, and another two are scheduled for February. The steering committee, which includes seven architects, hopes to have concrete plans by next year, and open the pool as its new use a year from then
Ideas for reuse include: Mini-golf, a flea and farmers market space, an outdoor cinema, and a wedding and events venue. There's also the option of using the pool, quite simply, as a pool (whether that means covered and heated, or retrofitted with a pool insert, or something else altogether remains to be determined).
The next Leslie Park Pool meetings are: Feb. 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m. St. Matthew's/St. Kieran Hall, 5322 Carnegie St.; and Feb. 21, noon-2 p.m. at the Stephen Foster Center, 286 Main St.
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Writer: Caralyn Green
Sources: Susan Englert and Deborah Knox
Image courtesy of Susan Englert