According to recent reporting by Curbed, the designers of +POOL with the help of “marine engineers and water quality experts” are conducting a feasability study to assess 10 specific locations across the city where the eventual pool might live.
The team will look into these options: Bush Terminal Park in Sunset Park; Brooklyn Bridge Park in Dumbo/Brooklyn Heights; Domino Sugar Factory in South Williamsburg; Governors Island; Hallets Point in Astoria; Hudson River Park; Hunters Point in Long Island City; St. George in Staten Island; Transmitter Park in Greenpoint; and Two Bridges on the Lower East Side.
+POOL, which brings collaborators from design offices Family and PlayLab, plans a pool area “for everyone” that brings four pools into one plus-sign-shaped complex, including a kid’s pool, sports pool, lap pool and lounge pool. The floating pool will be “like a giant strainer,” and filter the river water within its walls, removing bacteria, contaminants and odors.
According to the Queens Courier, +POOL will look into the water conditions at Queens sites in LIC and Astoria to understand the depth, access points, navigable channels, 100-year flood wave heights, current speeds, tidal elevation and harbor conditions, all of which will help determine whether the +Pool filtration system will support the site. +Pool co-designer Archie Lee Coates stated that once testing for the best site is completed, “we’ll be finishing site-specific final designs so we can hand them off to the city, apply for permits, build this thing and finally all swim in the river together.” Though the process will likely be long and there is currently no completion date, there is great optimism that soon New Yorkers will be able to change their perception of the city’s waterways and enjoy them as accessible bodies of water.
Renderings of proposed floating pool (courtesy of +Pool)