Belmont Pool Closed
"On Thursday, January 10th, the City of Long Beach closed the pool indefinitely after a structural analysis found that the pool was “seismically unsafe,” meaning that even a moderate earthquake would cause severe damage to the facility."
The '68 men's trials were held in Long Beach.
Glenn,
Cindy thanks you for making sure to say MEN'S trials. I've been corrected more than once for omitting it.
I hope Long Beach can find a way to keep the pool open. I've swam and watched too many meets & other aquatic competitions there; it would be a shame if it were to disappear.
i too had some good swims in that pool. granted that was WAY back.
and of course who could forget Jeff Farrell making the team at the '60 Olympic Trails held there for the 100m Free after just having his appendix taken out a few days before.
I was the last lap swimmer out of the pool on Wednesday the 9th. A friend sent me the link about the closure the next day. I was suppose to do my One Hour Postal Swim at the Belmont Pool on this past Saturday. I moved my Postal Swim to the pool in Seal Beach instead.
I will be keeping an eye on developments on this pool. I live six blocks away and its one of my two primary pools in which I swim. the second pool is at Cal State Long Beach.
If the pool is not open for the December SCM Meet, it would give a chance for other pools in the area to shine.
- Cerritos Olympic Swim & Fitness Center (Indoor)
- Los Angeles Swim Stadium (Outdoor)
- Woollett Aquatic Center (Irvine) (Outdoor)
- Marian Bergstrom Aquatic Complex (Newport Beach) (Outdoor)
- The Benstead Plunge (Torrance) (Outdoor)
- City of Commerce Aquatorium (Brenda Villa Aquatic Center) (Indoor)
There are plenty of options, and plenty of time to plan, or I should say plenty of time to make contigency plans.
Looking forward to this in the next few years: www.presstelegram.com/.../san-pedros-gaffey-street-pool-will-open-again
Swim with Mike:
www.swimwithmike.org/.../
This pool has been on borrowed time for a while now. The roof leaks badly, and the water can't be good for the roof structure, with its span of well over 40 yards. The bottom of the pool, also leaks badly, so the pool has to be "topped off" constantly, and that can't be good for the foundations, either. It would be sad to lose the pool, and really sad if the Grunion team weren't in a position to host a big annual meet like the SCM meet. But the reality is that the city of Long Beach has been debating the repair of the pool for years, and the city and its citizens no doubt have a whole lot of priorities that look more attractive than a new indoor competition pool.
The little outdoor pool is open M-F 7pm - 9pm, and Sa-Su 8am - 12pm. What a nice evening. Clear skies, swimming under the stars. Are temp has picked back up to a nice 50 degrees. I was surprised at the number of swimmers who showed up to swim on a Friday evening, outdoors. Friday is usually the slowest night of the week at this complex. Looking forward to a lot of nice, outdoor swims, while the fate of the indoor pool is in question.
Ande, I could swear I had posted about the Belmont closure back on the 11th, but can't find my post, so I'll add to your thread here. The City had a meeting for some of the stakeholders/users groups on the afternoon of the 10th (I attended that meeting). They do have plans for a temporary pool in the parking lot are, but that will apparently take 3-6 months to accomplish (permits, foundation, utilites, ADA access, California Coastal Commission approval, etc.). They were talking about a long term solution of building 2 50-meter pools, one indoors and one outdoors. Hoever, we were all shocked when they said the indoor pool would be primarily recreational in function, and that the competition pool would be outdoors. Their design firm actually had the gall to say that the design "meets all but national and international standards." I set up a Facebook page that evening www.facebook.com/RebuildBelmontPlazaOlympicPool to discuss what the City had told us, and to request "Likes" to that page in order to show the City officials and staff just how widespread the knowledge of the pool is. City staff seems to think it is just the local recreational facility, and seem to have no appreciation of how many people from all over the world have been there to compete or watch some of the best swimmers, divers and waterpolo players in the world.
While the City of Long Beach has its financial challenges, as do most municipalities these day, a large portion of the funds necessary to properly rebuild the pool complex will come from the City's Tidelands oil funds, not the City's general fund. Tidelands funds can only be spent in Tidelands area (which includes the land upon which Belmont sits). the There are major offshore oil operations in the Long Beach area, and the City receives a portion of the revenue from the oil production. With recent oil price levels, the City has a significant amount of money (exact amount unknown, but in the multi-millions) in its Tidelands Funds, and plans to use a portion of those fuinds toward a rebuilt Belmont Plaza. Several of us are working on plans to set up a mechanism for a private-public partnership to educate the City and the California Coastal Commission on the need for rebuilding Belmont as a state of the art, world-class competitive facility as it once was, rather than just another recreational pool, and to partake in fundraising efforts. To us, given that virtually all of the major competitions have been held there in the colder months from November through May, the need for the indoor pool to be the competition venue is the only thing that makes sense. And, if the new pool is properly designed, it will once again be able to host long course swimming competitions plus collegiate, national and international water polo and diving competitions. If you agree with this need, and love Belmont for its history, the people who have participated in events there, and its unique location on the beach, please support our efforts. Feel free to contact me at lucyjohnson1@gmail.com with your comments and/or questions, or post your comments and questions on this forum. Thanks everyone!
It makes no sense to me to have an outdoor competition pool and an indoor rec pool.The other way around makes more sense.If the SPMS Dec. meet isn't at Long Beach it will be a loss for Masters Swimming.If it is outdoors in Dec at Long Beach I doubt I'll be there.
It makes no sense to me to have an outdoor competition pool and an indoor rec pool.The other way around makes more sense.If the SPMS Dec. meet isn't at Long Beach it will be a loss for Masters Swimming.If it is outdoors in Dec at Long Beach I doubt I'll be there.
They could always bring it up to Federal Way at the KCAC and still call it the SPMS Dec. meet. I'm sure some of us wouldn't object too much. :D
It makes no sense to me to have an outdoor competition pool and an indoor rec pool.The other way around makes more sense.If the SPMS Dec. meet isn't at Long Beach it will be a loss for Masters Swimming.If it is outdoors in Dec at Long Beach I doubt I'll be there.
Having swam outdoors in the little warm-up pool at Belmont in January last year, I can tell you, an outdoor swim meet in December in Long Beach would not be a bad thing. (ElaineK, you can chime in with your input :agree:)
I grew up there and it wasn't unusual for me and my friends to swim in the ocean during the Christmas break. A pool would be so much warmer.
