Aquatic Park

Aquatic Park

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Aquatic Park Bathhouse • Embed Video • Exiting nps.gov • Alerts In Effect • A Palace for the People • Rebuilding America: Works Progress Administration • The Years 1942-1948 • A Museum is Born Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( Lock Locked padlock icon ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. SAFR 21374 P93-065, A11.15077 Originally known as Black Point Cove, Aquatic Park has long been enjoyed by the people of San Francisco. Beginning in the 1860s, swimmers used the sandy beach and sheltered cove for recreation, even as industrial buildings and train tracks along the shoreline began expanding into the area. Over the next 50 years, local recreation clubs, including the Dolphin Club and South End Club, rallied public support to transform this area from an industrial zone into a waterfront park. The city’s Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in 1914 that marked a turning point in this long campaign. Black Point Cove was designated as the “site for the proposed aquatic park,” preserving it from future commercial development. Today, this historic district supports recreational opportunities from rowing to swimming, to spending a relaxing day with family and friends, with the Aquatic Park Bathhouse at the center of the action The dream to create an Aquatic Park came to fruition in 1935, thanks to funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). This federal program, created under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was designed to create community in a time of crises. The WPA would regenerate both public sites and the spirit of the American people. “We are definitely in an era of building,” Roosevelt said, “the best kind of building—the building of great public projects for the benefit of the public and with the definite objective of building human happiness.” [Google Places type: park]