TA24-J F-Pages - Flipbook - Page 72
Left
Facilities like the Pleasant Oaks Swimming Pool in Dallas were popular in the 1950s for their recreational amenities, which encouraged swimmers to play and socialize.
Right During the 1950s, African-American children often swam in segregated facilities with limited amenities, like those at the Hampton Road Pool in Dallas.
70 Texas Architect
1/2 2024
Texas’ unique swimming culture extends far beyond man-made pools. The
seemingly endless Texas summer drives thousands of people to natural swimming holes, where cold spring water provides relief from the heat. Swimming
holes o昀昀er a chance for visitors to immerse themselves in the natural world.
During the Jim Crow era, many local swimming holes served as an alternative to whites-only municipal swimming pools. These natural springs were
also often places of spiritual signi昀椀cance and ritual for Indigenous peoples.
The continued usage of these same swimming locations over time has created cultural landscapes that carry a history of their own. To ensure that this
history may be passed on to future generations, existing landscape features
ought to be preserved to the greatest extent possible. These natural elements
provide visitors with both passive and active exposure to green space, serving
as wildlife habitats and performing an essential role in the watershed system.
There is a pressing need to preserve and restore the riparian ecosystems at
frequently used swimming holes through resiliency-focused, site-speci昀椀c design
e昀昀orts that target both cultural and natural components.
Natural swimming holes are the pride of many towns: Jacob’s Well and
Blue Hole in Wimberley, Las Moras Springs in Brackettville, Comal Springs
LEFT PHOTO [PA87-1/154-111-1] AND RIGHT PHOTO [PA87-1/154-94] COURTESY DALLAS
PUBLIC LIBRARY
money received from the city goes towards maintaining and repairing existing
pools. The city runs 33 public pools, but not all of them stay open during the
summer; aging pump systems frequently break, causing pools to shut down
until they can be 昀椀xed. Realizing that temporary 昀椀xes were no longer an
acceptable solution, the Austin City Council passed a resolution in 2017 that
created the Aquatic Master Plan. The plan provided a map to a sustainable
future for Austin’s pools, including increased maintenance funding and publicprivate partnerships. It also recognized that the Austin pool system is still being
a昀昀ected by the infamous segregation line drawn along Interstate 35 in 1928.
Some of the most popular pools in the city are also the most deteriorated.
Pools in East Austin have not been as well maintained due to a historic lack
of resources and reliable infrastructure but still have high demand amongst
residents. New pools are being planned for underserved areas of the city, and
there is to be a public process for future decommissioning of pools, giving residents a voice. The city has looked to Bartholomew Pool — renovated between
2009 and 2014 — as a model for future pool improvements. Pool usage tripled
after repairs were made, indicating that there is in fact a demand for public
pools, if only the city is able to maintain them.
