In Piedmont, a long-anticipated event will soon take place at 777 Magnolia Ave.: the city\u2019s unveiling of its new community pool.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the doors to a facility years in the making will officially open to the public. The project \u2014 featuring two temperature-controlled pools, a rooftop pavilion and no shortage of amenities \u2014 represents a rare major public construction effort in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first new facility we\u2019ve built in many decades,\u201d said Echa Schneider, the city of Piedmont\u2019s communications officer. \u201cI mean, I\u2019m sitting here in our City Hall \u2014 this building is from 1911. Most of our public facilities are about 100 years old, so it\u2019s a very exciting moment for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
The previous pool had become increasingly inoperable, Schneider said, citing an ongoing leak, routine equipment failures and staff having to search eBay for replacement parts that are no longer widely available. In 2020, when pools nationwide temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Piedmont City Council members decided to permanently close the city\u2019s aging pool too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have taken a substantial capital investment to reopen it and extend its life, even for a few more years,\u201d explained Schneider.<\/p>\n
To fund the construction of a new community pool, a bond measure (Measure UU) appeared on the November 2020 ballot. Piedmont residents actively campaigned for the measure, even going door-to-door to encourage local citizens to vote in favor of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the first capital bond measure that, as a city, we have passed in a long time,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n
Subsequent years involved intricate planning for the new pool, including soliciting residents\u2019 perspectives on the facility\u2019s design; the securing of additional funding and ultimately the pool\u2019s construction, an extensive effort that got underway in 2023.<\/p>\n
What the old pool lacked, the new pool accommodates. It has twice the old pool\u2019s water surface area, with two separate, neighboring spaces: an activity pool and a competitive pool. The latter can host official swim and water polo meets, now up to regulation standards for both sports, whereas the previous pool was not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old pool was undersized for the community aquatic needs, so we had a lot of competition between user groups,\u201d said Schneider. \u201cNow there\u2019s more opportunity for everyone to be able to enjoy the pool at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
A key aspect of the pool\u2019s design is the consideration of myriad ages and interests of those who will use it, whether for lap swimming, aqua fitness or just wanting to take a dip in the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very important to the (City) Council to preserve those core aquatic functions that would allow all types of swimmers to be able to use the pool,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cIt\u2019s for everybody in the community and very much designed to meet all of those different needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
In \u201cInside the New Community Pool,\u201d a video posted on the city of Piedmont\u2019s website (bit.ly\/piedpoolvid1<\/a>), Paula Cooper-Tipton, the city\u2019s aquatics recreation supervisor, and Hadley Clegg, its aquatics recreation coordinator, offer a walk-through of the facility.<\/p>\n Among its many features are a family poolside room, a grassy area with Adirondack chairs and umbrellas, two diving boards, lap lanes, a scoreboard for sports meets and movie nights and a station for sweet treats.\n<\/p>\n Another key feature is the pool\u2019s use of electricity for all of its functions, including heating, filtration and circulation. Only one other municipal pool in the United States preceded Piedmont in implementing this all-electric system: the Rengstorff Park Aquatics Center in Mountain View.<\/p>\n \u201cThe old pool was the single largest source of municipal greenhouse gas emissions [in Piedmont], so it\u2019s really our biggest opportunity as a city to reduce our own organizational carbon footprint,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n Other Bay Area cities have since followed suit, with multiple all-electric pools currently under construction throughout the region.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very proud to have been a leader in this area and in adopting green technology for our aquatic facility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In the video \u201cPiedmont Community Pool Update: Commissioning Progress and What\u2019s Next\u201d (bit.ly\/piedpoolvid2<\/a>) Piedmont city administrator Rosanna Bayon Moore describes the all-electric pool as \u201ca major community investment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[It\u2019s] built for safety, sustainability and longevity,\u201d she comments, adding, \u201cWhen you see the site up close, I think you\u2019ll agree that it\u2019s worth the wait.\u201d<\/p>\n From this Saturday through April 30, Piedmont residents and nonresidents can buy a \u201cdrop-in\u201d daily pass to the pool for the discounted price of $5. From there, they can decide if they want to purchase an annual or summer pass or continue with drop-in passes.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no rush \u2014 passes will continue to be available,\u201d Schneider emphasized.<\/p>\n On opening day, the Piedmont Community Pool will welcome the public with open swim hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., giving visitors their first chance to explore the long-awaited facility.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to keep it casual, but hopefully with a few surprises planned to make it feel a little special,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n A larger event \u2014 the \u201cSummer Kickoff Community Celebration\u201d \u2014 is planned for Memorial Day weekend, but the inaugural day is focused on giving the community ample time to experience the space.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really just want people to come in, get in the water, and see what they made happen,\u201d she said. \u201cWe think they\u2019re going to be really happy when they walk in the door.\u201d<\/p>\n JL Odom is a freelance journalist based in San Francisco who can be reached at\u00a0jlodomphd@gmail.com<\/a>. When they\u2019re not covering the Bay Area, they\u2019re usually training for their next marathon.<\/p>\n April Piedmont Community Pool hours<\/p>\n Saturday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n Sunday through April 30: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays; 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays with a midday closure from 1 to 3 p.m. (1 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesdays); and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays.<\/p>\n For program offerings, pool passes and facility rentals, visit the online aquatics registration portal at rec.us\/organizations\/city-of-piedmont<\/a>. For a brochure detailing pool pass options and pricing, go online to bit.ly\/piedpoolpassinfo<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Piedmont, a long-anticipated event will soon take place at 777 Magnolia Ave.: the city\u2019s unveiling of its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[389,184,7,332,181,1071,23,143,145,144,13745,933],"class_list":{"0":"post-256919","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-alameda-county","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-east-bay","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-local-government","14":"tag-local-news","15":"tag-oakland","16":"tag-oakland-headlines","17":"tag-oakland-news","18":"tag-piedmont","19":"tag-swimming"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}