This photo was taken in 2008 of the Rustic Canyon Pool, which is closed and will not open this summer because the 60-year old structure is in need of repairs.
During the hottest days of the summer, several key municipal pools are closed, including the Rustic Canyon Recreation Center pool.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced in November 2023, that she secured funding to address some of the effects of the climate crisis. Roughly $93.5 million dollars will be allocated toward addressing extreme heat, with the majority of the funding for building bus shelters. Other money will go toward planting more trees and installing cooling pavement.
Bass might direct some money to City swimming pools, such as the one at Rustic Canyon. That pool, which is more than 60 years old, has been closed for several years because of ongoing maintenance issues. Another city pool, Griffith Park, has been closed for five years.
The cost for repairs at Rustic Canyon is estimated between $300 and $500K. “The long-term plan for Rustic Canyon pool is to demolish and construct a modern pool facility that will meet the needs of the community,” RAP Public Information officer Rose Watson said in a July 24 email to CTN. “Immediate repairs required for reopening include electrical work, plumbing and pump repairs.”
Watson said there are plans to have the Rustic Pool operational by next summer, unless funding is secured for a full-pool replacement project.
Of the 56 pools operated by RAP, eight are currently closed. Repairs are in process at Fremont (South Los Angeles) and Venice High School.
The Board of Recreation and Park commissioners approved the Venice High School swimming pool demolishment and replacement in 2017, authorizing $2.5 million of the project. It was considered a priority because about 6,400 city residents were within one-half mile of the pool. LAUSD and RAP operate under a monthly contract for joint use for the Venice pool, built in 1961.
In 2020, the Venice pool was shut down because of a crack in the roof. In a June 2023 RAP report, it was noted that the pool had become dilapidated due to its age and RAP had been in conversation with LAUSD about a needed replacement. LAUSD spent approximately $110 million facility modernization at Venice High School, but the pool received no funding.
With no money from LAUSD, the pool at Venice High School has now become a RAP renovation project, rather than a replacement project, with the total cost projected at $3.2 million dollars.
The Venice pool, built in 1961, was set to be replaced. Now it is closed, for renovations.
Renovation is in progress at Verdugo Hills (Tujunga) and Granada Hills.
Funding for Peck Park Pool (Western Avenue in San Pedro) renovation has not been identified.
Additionally, the Griffith Park Pool and Costello (East L.A.) pool are in the pre-design phase, with funding secured for designs.
A blogger, Alissa Walker wrote about the Griffith Park Pool on July 12, “Glimpsing the Griffith Park Pool while you’re trapped between exhaust-spewing vehicles on the 5 is a particularly poignant breed of July-in-LA cruelty. One of the largest public pools in the city is currently empty, save for a shopping cart lobbed into the deep end. This oasis along the freeway has been closed to swimmers since the pandemic began in 2020 — during some of the hottest summers in LA history.” click here.
At Griffith Park, it is anticipated that design work will take 14 months, bid phase will take six months and construction will take two years. As Walker wrote, “If the process begins as it’s supposed to next week, we should have our pool back in four years. Four very hot years.”
The Griffith Park pool remains closed this summer.