Random musings: Taking the plunge!

The Hayward Plunge, that is.

For those of you who didn't grow up in the Bay Area, and probably many of you who did, you may be wondering "What is the Hayward Plunge?" and "Why the heck is he writing about it?".

To answer your first question, the Hayward Plunge is an indoor swimming pool located in Hayward, CA which is located on the southeastern shore of San Francisco Bay.

The Plunge was built in 1936 as part of FDR's New Deal and provided an indoor swimming pool. I haven't been able to find much more on the history, except for what seems to be an urban legend about the "Hayward Plunge Murders".

But why write about it now? I thought that the Plunge had been closed down for years since I hadn't seen it for decades, but I drove by it last week and saw that it was still there, and even though this photo shows it fenced in, it is open and has swimming daily. Perhaps it was closed for a while, but like I said I couldn't really find any history on it.

I thought there was also a plunge in Berkeley, but apparently I was hallucinating (it was during the 60's) because I can't find any mention of it online. However, there is a Richmond Plunge, located about 5 miles from me, and has a lot more history online.

From Wikipedia:

History[edit]

Promoted by the citizens of Richmond, The Plunge was created through a bond issue in 1926.^[3] At that time, it was a "state of the art" two-story building with an indoor warm water swimming pool double the size of an Olympic pool, a fountain, observation balconies, and an open truss ceiling reminiscent of the Sutro Baths in San Francisco. Richmond's population was about 20,000 then, grew to over 200,000 during the "war years" and is now about 80,000.

Over the years, the masonry building deteriorated, the hollow-clay-tile walls cracking after 76 years of deferred maintenance. Richmond Friends of Recreation (RFR) was organized in 1979 as a non-profit organization with the purpose of supporting community recreation programs, spearheaded a major rehabilitation of the pool equipment and repainting of the structure. The Plunge was further damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. City voters rejected a bond measure to reinforce it in 1997. In November 1997, the City Council realized they did not have the funds to retrofit the building and determined they had no option but to close the Plunge permanently. However, even though it was unsafe, people were allowed to swim in it until August 2001, although they had to pass "Swim at your own risk" signs.^[1]

The Plunge in 2007

When the Plunge was slated for demolition, residents protested and RFR stepped in to work with the City in a unique Public/Private Partnership to raise the necessary funds to retrofit, upgrade and reopen the Plunge. The renovation planning process was complicated by the fact that the Plunge is located in the Point Richmond Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. This meant that officials had to ensure the renovation would not damage the site's historic value.