Red Hook Play Center (Sol Goldman Pool)
155 Bay Street | also 135 Bay Street, 140 Lorraine Street | Red Hook | built 1936
Open on the map8 entries
The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1934
The Red Hook waterfront tract passes to the Parks Department for a recreation area
Early in 1934 a landfill tract between Erie Basin and Gowanus Bay passed to the Parks Department for a recreation area; the site had served as a baseball field from 1915 until about 1929. The Housing Authority's Tenement Commissioner said the land was needed for public housing, but 15 acres were later returned to Parks. A swimming pool was to be the first phase of the plan.
“Early in 1934 the tract was turned over to the Parks Department to become part of a large outdoor recreational area…”
- 1936
Nearly 40,000 people crowd the opening of the Red Hook Play Center, the last of the city's eleven WPA pools
The pool opened on the evening of August 17, 1936, the eleventh and last of the city's WPA pools to open. Nearly 40,000 people gathered, with 6,500 inside the enclosure to hear Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Brooklyn Borough President Raymond Ingersoll. LaGuardia praised Robert Moses for winning federal money and told children to swim in the morning rather than ask their mothers for dimes in the afternoon, since dimes were scarce.
“The opening ceremony of the Red Hook Play Center on the evening of August 17, 1936 marked the eleventh and last WPA pool to open…”
- 1936
Joseph Hautman designs a C-shaped Art Moderne bath house for 4,462 swimmers
Joseph L. Hautman was the architect, with Aymar Embury II as consulting architect, on a bath house that follows the Art Moderne style. Its long, low C-shaped form has horizontal window bands, cast-stone trim and arched arcades. The complex was built in 1934-36 to hold 4,462 bathers and stands on landfill between the former Erie Basin and the Gowanus Canal.
“Designed to accommodate 4,462 people, the Red Hook Play Center officially opened on August 17, 1936…”
- 1939
The Red Hook Houses open on the pool's northern edge
The Red Hook Houses, a federally funded public housing project, opened in 1939 directly north of the pool, three years after the Play Center. Both came from public investment aimed at Red Hook during the Great Depression, as did the Red Hook Recreational Area, which opened in 1940 on the pool's western side.
“Opened in 1936, 1939, and 1940, respectively, the Red Hook Play Center, the Red Hook Houses, and the Red Hook Recreational Area…”
- 1983
Plans are filed for a major renovation that closes the pool for years
Plans were filed in early 1983 to rebuild the Red Hook Play Center as part of a citywide Parks capital program. The main pool and deck were reconstructed, the diving pool became a wading pool, and new plumbing, filtration and electrical systems went in. A new annex with the main entrance linked the men's and women's bath houses.
- 1986
The pool reopens as the Sol Goldman Pool, named for a Brooklyn-born real estate magnate
In 1986 the Red Hook Play Center reopened to the public after its renovation and was formally renamed the Sol Goldman Pool. The name recognized the continuing financial support of Sol Goldman, a Brooklyn-born real estate magnate.
- 1991
A $2 million gift from Sol Goldman keeps the city's pools open for part of the summer
In 1991 Mayor David Dinkins proposed closing the city's pools as part of a package of budget cuts. A $2 million donation from Sol Goldman ensured they would stay open for part of that summer, and a further $1.8 million was still needed to cover the full nine-week swimming season.
“Only a donation of $2 million from Sol Goldman guaranteed the pools would be kept open for at least a portion of that summer…”
- 2008
The Landmarks Commission designates the Red Hook Play Center a city landmark
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Red Hook Play Center (Sol Goldman Pool) on November 18, 2008, covering the bath house, pools, bleachers, comfort station, storage house and fencing. At the January 2007 hearing, seven witnesses spoke in favor, including Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, and none opposed.
Nearby
- Red Hook Grain Terminal685 Columbia Street | 5 entries
- Defonte's Sandwich Shop379 Columbia Street | 2 entries
- Montauk Paint Manufacturing Company Building170 2nd Avenue | 6 entries
- Frankies 457 Spuntino457 Court Street | 2 entries
- Brooklyn Clay Retort and Fire Brick Works Storehouse76 Van Dyke Street | 6 entries
- Pioneer Works159 Pioneer Street | 6 entries