Evening star., 1926-08-15
BATHING POOL SITE
DECISIONS SOUGH!
Estimates for Two to Be
Prepared if Park Body
Acts Next Friday.
By WILLIAM j. WHEATLEY.

Bl WILLIAM j. NHEATLEY.
Strong efforts are to he made to gel
a decision on the location of the two
bathing pools authorized by Congress
at the last session, when the National
Capital Park and Planning Conamis
sion meets next Friday. Following
this decision. if it is made. plans will
be formed for submitting an estimate
to Congress early in the coming seS-
sion in order that the appropriation
may be granted and construction
started in time to have the pools ready
early next Fall. The law providing
! for the pools authorized an appropri-
alton of S345,00 for the two. one for
white residents and one for Colored
No appropriation was made however
Plans have been completed. except
in few details, for the pools. it was
said. and they will be laid before the
planning commission for study in con
nection with its consideration of the
whole bathing pool subject. Officials
are cognizant of the handicap under
which the District has. been laborinc
since the bathing beach i'll the Tidal
Basin was closed. and are anxious,
that some relief may he provided
Aside from deciding upon the lora.
tlon of the pools already authorized
there is 10 be submitted TO the COM
mission the question of mapping out
pool system for the entire city.
Until the decision on the present
question is made, it was asserted no
plan can be formulated for the other
pools of the series.
Park Sites to BE Urged
Two locations for the large pools
Will be suggested by Maj. u. :. Grant
Sd, 1t is to be recommended that the
ri fNt. IL
either in East Potomac Park inmedl-
ately adjacent to the railroad embank
ment and the tourist camp, or in
West Potomac Park in the area
bounded by the roadway leading t.
the Highway Bridge and that sl<irtins
the former bathing beach in the Tidal
Basin, in the area now used for tennis
courts and foot ball gridirons. This
site is rather favored because it will
be possible for traffic to approach il
without crossing the road to the
Highway Bridge. 1t will provide a
means of egress across the bridge
over the inlet to the Tidal Basin which
now is being widened, and it is be
lieved that not only will there b.
ample room for the pool and bath
houses, but plenty of parking space
for automobiles.
The site recommended for the bath
ing pool for colored residents IL at
Twenty-siXth street and Riverside
Drive, in the plot adjacent to the
United States Naval Hospital and a
short distance from the approach To
the Arlington Memorial Bridge. This
is in the area which is being made a
recreation center for colored people
In recommending the two sites, the
officials had in mind placing them in
well established recreation centers
Original Size Assured.
The two pools. it was said. will be
as large as originally intended. and
there will be no effort to reduce this
size TO save money which might be
returned to the Treasury to be used
toward other pools.
The report which has been prepared
for the commission by Mai Grant
and which he is not disposed to make
public until the commission has had
an opportunity to study it. discusses
the bathing facilities situation here
at great length. 1t deals with the
problems which must be met In the
location of other pools, particularly
with the possibilities of objections
from residents. The nature OF some
OF the protests received when the To-
cation of the colOred pool in Ana
costa was proposed will be discussed
The bathing pool situation Is 10 be
treated as a general problem in con
nection with the old scheme of in
creaSing the reCreational facilities OF
the city. according to Maj. Carey III.
Brown, engineer of the planning com
mission. Since it is the belief of
commission members that such pools
should be located in recreation cen
terS it was pointed out that before
sites for future pools are chosen, the
commission must approve "a general
plan for the establishment of more
recreation places in the city. and once
these are established then the pools
will follow.
Would Scatter Pools.
1t is the opinion of officials who
have studied the situation, that each
neighborhood should have a pool, par
ticularly for the benefit of children.
Some preliminary work, according
to Maj. Brown, has been done on the
subject, and the matter now is being
considered by individual members of
the commission and expert city plan
ners, who are here to determine what
projects in the Identification and i'm
provement of the park and recrea
| ton facilities of the city should be
| first.
1t is the plan of the commission tU
| select areas IN various sections OIL the
| city which would be suitable for de
| velopment as large recreation centers.
determine the availability of the land
| and the population that would be
| served. A program for acquiring these
areas then would be laid down and
their establishment as places of rec
| reation would begin. In each one of
! these centerS. as soon AS funds could
| be obtained from Congress, bathing
! pools of various sizes to meet the pop
| ulation needs would be built.
Many Sites Suggested.
| Many suggestions have been re-
ceived by the commission as To pos
| sible locations of these pools, and
| these have been filed, but not one
| thing definite in regard to any site
| has been done, and nothing will be
| done until the aPrk and Planning
! Commission studies the whole sit VA
| ton and reaches a decision.
! What may be desirable location Of
/ a pool, it was pointed out, might not
| be satisfactory for Il recreation center
such as is proposed Many sections
! it was pointed out. want bathing
| pools, but when a certain site is sug
| gested residents Immediately begin 10
| protest. They want it in their sec
| ton, but not right near their homes
/ and such problems as this are behind
| the determination Of the commission
| to establish large recreation centers
| SO that the pools in them might not
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