Brooklyn Heights

Permanent pool finally coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park

Replacing pop-up pool, to be built in Squibb Park

June 1, 2018 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn Bridge Park announced on Friday plans to build a permanent pool at Squibb Park, which sits just above Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn Heights. This rendering is a general representation of the proposed pool. Community planning session will determine its final design. Rendering courtesy of Brooklyn Bridge Park
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It was all smiles Friday morning as Brooklyn Bridge Park announced plans to build a permanent pool at Squibb Park, which sits just above Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn Heights.

The announcement was a dream come true for hundreds of parents in the group Love Our Pool who had worked with officials and the park for a permanent pool to replace the beloved, but temporary, Pop-Up Pool, now in its final season in the park.

“What’s clear is that Brooklyn Bridge Park visitors love swimming at the park,” Eric Landau, Brooklyn Bridge Park president, told the crowd assembled in Squibb Park. “And the park needs and deserves a permanent pool for swimming.”

Squibb Park has a historical connection to swimming, Landau said. When it opened in the late 1940s there was a wading pool in the park. The wading pool was eliminated 10 years ago.

Brooklyn Bridge Park will host community planning sessions this summer and fall prior to issuing the design RFP (Request for Proposals), Landau said. The community will help decide issues like the size of the pool and what type of non-swimming activities should be included, “Like the beach at the current Pop-Up Pool,” he said. “And if there should be a concession on-site.”

NYC Parks Department Commissioner Mitchell Silver. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

The construction of the pool is estimated to cost from $10-$15 million, he said. One-third of the capital funding for the project will be funded by Brooklyn Bridge Park; and the remainder will be raised publicly and privately in partnership with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, officials said. Officials said they hope for completion to be finished sometime in 2020.

Midtown Equities (which developed the Empire Stores project) and Alloy Development with Monadnock Construction and DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners (involved in developing One John Street) have already dedicated a combined $1.2 million in funding commitments toward the pool. A capital fundraising campaign is underway to raise the remainder.  

“Since the summer of 2012, the pop-up pool has been a treasure of Brooklyn Bridge Park in the summertime, yet, it was always temporary,” said U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez. “Our families deserve the assurance that summers will bring a place to swim and play, and that is why the construction of a permanent pool is so exciting.”

Deputy Mayor and park Board Chair Alicia Glen said Friday’s announcement shows “the story continues to be written” at Brooklyn Bridge Park. “This is going to be a big chapter in its history.”

Love Our Pool organizer Suzanne Quint said, “The success we are celebrating today speaks to the impact community engagement can have.” She added, “Last night I asked my 11-year-old son what I should say today about the amazing news that we’re getting a permanent pool, and he said to me, ‘Mom, this is making America great again!’”

Councilmember Stephen Levin gave “an especial shout out” to former state Sen. Daniel Squadron.

“If ever there was a state official who loved a pool, it was Daniel Squadron,” he said. “Daniel, as state senator for 10 years, when he got his teeth into something, he would not let it go … He prioritized this above all else when it came to the park.”

“I think the park is probably going to outdo themselves ultimately by creating an amazing design,” said Love Our Pool member Lee Levine, who is a regular at the Pop-Up Pool with his son Izzy. “The community’s going to be involved in the design of the park this summer, and I’m really excited it’s determined by community input, people who use the pool, as opposed to someone who’s detached.”

The pool news doubtless comes as a surprise to owners of Pierhouse’s north condo building at 90 Furman St., whose windows are within splashing distance of the planned pool. The building looms over Squibb Park.

Squibb Park is connected to Brooklyn Bridge Park by the Squibb Park Bridge (formerly known as the bouncy bridge before repairs).

Subject to necessary approvals, NYC Parks intends to enter into an agreement with Brooklyn Bridge Park for the development, operation, and maintenance of the pool and any related amenities.

Landau was joined by NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, Velazquez (D-NY), Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, state Sen. Brian Kavanagh, Councilmember Stephen Levin, Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Executive Director Nancy Webster and Love Our Pool representatives, among others.

 Above: Councilmember Stephen Levin, Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Executive Director Nancy Webster, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, Love Our Pool organizer Suzanne Quint, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, Park President Eric Landau, state Sen. Brian Kavanagh. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

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