The notion of "retro" has dipped in and out of fashion, but we’ve gotten to a point where relics from the past, specifically the 1970s, are being put away forever. It makes sense—the quintessential style of the decade isn’t exactly what one would call timeless. Still, we got Blondie, Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions, and Annie Hall out of those tumultuous 10 years. Local residents also saw the construction of Smith and Crow pools. But now, the jig is up for one of those pools. It’s time for something new.
 Crow Pool itself is simple, with six swimming lanes beneath six painted aqua letters. Its rational, rectangular design clearly means business. |
The City of Charlottesville recently entered a ground lease with the Boys and Girls Club of America to rebuild Smith Pool near the Buford Middle School. There are also provisional plans to build a state-of-the-art, 75,000-square-foot YMCA facility with a pool in McIntire Park. That means that in the next decade, Crow Pool will likely close.
It’s the classic debate of whether to fix something that ain’t that broke. Crow Pool would require $1 million to stay functional, but it also reflects different priorities: swimming as sport rather than play. In contrast, the new Smith pool will include a warm water facility with a play zone, a two-turn water slide, and an 80′-long "lazy river" in addition to the current cold-water pool with lap lanes. Though some older pool users are opposed to the changes, even going so far as to organize a petition to keep it open, it’s clear that the new pool’s additional features are geared toward a younger demographic.
The building that houses Crow Pool, located at 1700 Rose Hill Dr., is distinctly aged, a large brown brick complex with small, tinted windows near the roof and an understated entrance. Unlike more recently built glassy, heavily windowed fitness centers, there is no obvious front to the building. The pool itself is simple, with six swimming lanes beneath six painted aqua letters. It clearly means business. On a recent trip to the facility, I got to witness a Charlottesville High School swim team practice. The whole experience took me back to my own high school years, surrounded by white concrete walls and peers, all much taller than my diminutive self. Not much had changed.
Crow Pool isn’t innately playful with its rational, rectangular design. It left its swimmers to make of it what they could. The new pool facility at Smith will likely be more postmodern and whimsical, with high ceilings and delusions of grandeur. There’s something to be said for the straightforward simplicity of the old pool. Still, the new Smith pool promises to unite both work and play, old and young. And honestly, who doesn’t enjoy a lazy river?
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