Berkeley’s Warm Pool at the Old Gym on the Berkeley High campus filled with swimmers Wednesday night for probably the last time ever, as scores of pool loyalists gathered for a mock funeral. The Old Gym is being shuttered and is slated to be demolished in 2012. Above is a video shot last night, which includes some images taken of the pool in use on other days. It is by L.A. Wood. Robert Collier, Co-Chair of the Berkeley Pools Campaign, filed the report below: After nearly three decades of being a lifeline for many disabled and elderly residents, the decrepit yet much-loved facility at Berkeley High School is closing forever. Wednesday’s ceremony was a very Berkeley event: Rabbi Sara Shendelman played Tibetan bells and read prayers from several different world spiritual traditions. A symbolic coffin was carried alongside the pool, as participants held candles and mourned the loss of the Warm Pool as clouds of steam rose from the water. Berkeley’s Warm Pool has been the center of an emotional debate for the past decade. Supporters say the 92-degree pool, the only municipal pool of its kind in the Bay Area, provides the only available and affordable form of exercise and therapy […]
Berkeley’s Warm Pool at the Old Gym on the Berkeley High campus filled with swimmers Wednesday night for probably the last time ever, as scores of pool loyalists gathered for a mock funeral. The Old Gym is being shuttered and is slated to be demolished in 2012. Above is a video shot last night, which includes some images taken of the pool in use on other days. It is by L.A. Wood. Robert Collier, Co-Chair of the Berkeley Pools Campaign, filed the report below: After nearly three decades of being a lifeline for many disabled and elderly residents, the decrepit yet much-loved facility at Berkeley High School is closing forever. Wednesday’s ceremony was a very Berkeley event: Rabbi Sara Shendelman played Tibetan bells and read prayers from several different world spiritual traditions. A symbolic coffin was carried alongside the pool, as participants held candles and mourned the loss of the Warm Pool as clouds of steam rose from the water. Berkeley’s Warm Pool has been the center of an emotional debate for the past decade. Supporters say the 92-degree pool, the only municipal pool of its kind in the Bay Area, provides the only available and affordable form of exercise and therapy […]