Beloved Gowanus pool will get a temporary replacement during Canal cleanup

Gowanus residents will have access to a temporary swimming pool when the neighborhood’s Douglas and Degraw Pool a.k.a the Double D pool is demolished for canal cleanup efforts, the Brooklyn Paper reports.

An Environmental Protection Agency official recently announced that cleanup efforts at the Double D site won’t get underway until a temporary pool has been built for the community. It did not however announce where or when this replacement pool will be built.

National Grid is required to remove the sludge that now sites below the swimming pool—the utility company used to own a gas plant at the pool and park site, which partially polluted the site. They will also be required to replace the pool once cleanup work is complete.

Previously EPA officials were hoping to use the site of the demolished pool to house sewage tanks to prevent flooding into the canal, but local residents were understandably opposed to that plan.

In the end the city decided to house these tanks on private land, which it is now trying to acquire through eminent domain. Recently concerns were raised that this could end up being a very costly effort, due to a planned rezoning of the neighborhood.

Once the cleanup at the Double D pool site is complete, the EPA will ensure that National Grid builds a new pool facility that is better than the existing one.

• Short-term splash: Feds promise to build temporary replacement for beloved Gowanus pool during canal cleanup [BP]
• Gowanus Canal cleanup costs could rise thanks to possible rezoning [Curbed]
• Gowanus Park Is Spared, But City Plans to Seize Nearby Land for Canal Cleanup [Curbed]