The Palo Alto History Project, Rinconada Pool

The Palo Alto History Project

Rinconada Pool

777 Embarcadero Road

Rinconada Pool: Constructing for the Kids

The greatest builder of the 20th Century was probably Robert Moses. An unelected official in New York
State for more than 40 years, Moses remarkably had almost limitless power and public finances from which
to build. He constructed bridges, parkways, highways, public housing and government buildings all across
New York State and New York City. But over time Moses’ work took a dreadful turn and in the end, he
became the embodiment of all that was wrong with the modern American city.

The accomplishments of Robert Moses’ early career were all that is worthy in civic architecture. Each
project was like a work of art. For Moses, no detail was considered too small. An early creation --- Long
Island’s Jones Beach State Park --- is a masterpiece of construction. The bathhouse is like a palace, a
heroic Italiante-style water tower soars into the sky, and detailed, whimsical cartoon signs point swimmers to
bathrooms, towels, and concessions stands.

But after a long career of wielding power, conning politicians, and finding new ways to extricate more money
from the public, Moses’ work began to suffer. He seemed to lose his way --- no longer caring how his
projects were built, but simply if they were built. With a dangerous frenetic energy, Moses tore down
enormous parts of New York City, criss-crossing the Big Apple with highways and putting up endlessly
identical housing projects in place of close-knit, working-class neighborhoods. By the 1960s, his work no
longer showed any grace or art --- it even displayed a certain disdain for the public it served. Public housing
projects were little more than concrete slabs, civic buildings were boxy lifeless affairs, and bridges were
shoddy, ugly and constructed at minimal budget.

Over the years Moses’ devolution came to mirror what was happening across the nation --- a kind of
microcosm of the American city in the later 20th Century. Budget shortfalls made governments in debt look
for the cheapest way out, erecting buildings that neither pleased the eye nor the soul. American city halls for
instance, were once grandiose buildings --- monumental structures with America’s aspirations written in
stone above towering columns. Since the 1960s, they are more likely to be boxy towers or concrete
fortresses that psychologically shut the public out --- not welcome them in.

Palo Alto certainly has its share of these buildings. One needs to look no further than the rather austere
design of its own City Hall to see the Moses influence. Similarly, the city’s elementary schools were also
built at a time in which the quickest, most cost-effective designs were favored. Like many California schools
built in the mid-Century, the basic Palo Alto elementary blueprint spreads out the classrooms in two L-
shaped wings, creating endless outside corridors but little community. There is really no “school” there at all,
only classrooms loosely configured.

But a hot day and a trip to the pool last week, gave me hope that better days of public construction may be
ahead in Palo Alto. In 1998, the city sought to completely rebuild the children’s side of Rinconada Pool.
Rather then skimp or save, they did the job right. It cost taxpayers nearly one and a half million dollars, but
what the kids got was a pool to be proud of --- something that echoed a little bit of Jones Beach.

The new children’s pool is really more water park than pool. Formerly consisting of a uniform depth, it now
sports a flower petal arrangement, consisting of five separate “pods” in which depths range up to 3 feet.
Besides the unique design, playful touches are found throughout the pool. In one spot, three water horses sit
facing each other in a triangular arrangement. Peddle fast enough and your bike squirts out a stream of
water --- playfully aimed at your buddy on the other horse.

In another spot, a giant umbrella rains pool water down on any child who dares stand beneath it. On my
Memorial Day visit, I saw many smiley-faced kids standing beside the umbrella, gazing up at the stream of
water, summoning the courage needed to get completely soaked.

In a third spot, a brightly-colored orange waterslide sends children squealing into the pool. Picnic tables are
all around, water squirts everywhere, and on the grass, picnicking families spread out on towels. It’s a
charming Palo Alto scene made possible by the pool’s playful design and the obvious care with which it was
built.

Before I left, I got to chatting with one little guy who had clearly spent most his day in the pool. Just as he
was about to head back into the water, I asked him “So what do you think of this pool?” His quick reply of
“It rocks!” sufficed, just before he jumped back in. Surely no civic architect could ask for a better reply
than that.

-Matt Bowling

An umbrella shower

The old electrical plant
at Rinconada Park ---
it's cooling pond
became the children's
pool. (PAHA)

Palo Alto Home Page

Looking out at the adult pool

The map below shows the Community Center area

C ommunity Center Area

The adult pool with lifeguard