In a world where new ventures are successful, and old concepts are designated as obsolete it becomes reasonable to expect physical structures, like buildings, bridges, highways, and houses to have a natural expected lifetime beyond which they must be replaced.
Examples of structures that deteriorate with time are numerous, but not according immutable laws of physics. They deteriorate as a result of many factors, including wear, environmental conditions, maintenance, and design limitations like choice of materials. These factors are not the same for all structures. We do not expect all buildings to be demolished at a certain age, and we should not expect swimming pools to have predetermined life expectancy.
Indoor swimming pools are part of a larger building structure. It would be unreasonable to expect an indoor pool to outlast the building that houses it. To rule out the possibility that the housing limits the lifetime of a swimming pool, it is informative to look at the age of concrete structure buildings. While the use of concrete dates back to before the Romans, in the twentieth century reinforcing rebar made it most popular.
The argument that concrete deteriorates quickly, and wet concrete even more so, requires discussion. The Hoover Dam, completed in 1936, is a good place to start.
Significant Older Structures Still Standing:
- The Ingalls Building, 16 floors Cincinnati, 1902
- The Monadnock Building, 16 floors Chicago, 1891
Significant Older Pools:
- The Champagne Bath, Ottawa, 1924
- Glenmore Pool – Dollard des Ormeaux, Montreal, 1962
- Verdun Natatorium, Montreal, 1940
- McGill Memorial, Montreal, 1950
- Bain Morgan, Montreal, 1914
- Bain Emard, Montreal, 1914
- Piscine Schubert, Montreal, 1929
- Westmount YMCA, Montreal, 1923
- Hart House – University of Toronto, 1919
- West End YMCA, Toronto, 1911
- The Sunnyside, Toronto, 1925
- Donald D. Summerville Olympic Pool, 1963
- West Side YMCA , New York, 1930
- Woolworth Building, New York City, 1913
- Portage Park, Chicago, 1959 Pan Am Games
There are many types of swimming pools large enough for lap swimming and training, but most of those pools are not community owned. Apartments.com lists 1,630 apartments in buildings with swimming pools for rent in New York. Many of those are lap pools. An actual count is not readily available, but additionally, there are many condominium apartments in “prewar” buildings (built before 1930) that have functioning swimming pools. In Toronto, construction of apartments with pools became popular in the 80’s, and forty years later, those pools remain.
Well-known Hospitality Pools:
Also, not community owned, are hotel pools. They are numerous, and some have stood for many years. Well-known examples include:
- Royal York, Toronto, 1929
- Hotel Bonaventure, Montreal, 1967
- Ritz-Carlton, Montreal, 1912
The above examples are North American. There are many more in Europe, Asia, and Oceana, but there are no significant qualifying characteristics other than good design and maintenance.
— prepared by Ellis Betensky, October 2023