Dearborn’s 1st Outdoor Pool Celebrates 70th
Levagood pool opened in 1942 as Seashore Pool with a sand beach and Olympic-sized swimming area.
Dearborn residents are invited to join Mayor John B O’Reilly, Jr. at Levagood Park on Thursday, August 23 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the outdoor pool.
The Dearborn Recreation and Parks Department event runs from 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. and includes free swimming until dusk. Free hot dogs and pop will be available from 7 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. with complimentary cake served following O’Reilly’s congratulatory remarks at 8 p.m.
The band Bomb Squad entertains with a “Funk and Dunk Concert” from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. The pool deck will be open until 10 p.m. Pool rules apply.
Levagood Park’s pool has historical significance. In 1940, local officials selected the 40-acre site located near Cherry Hill and Telegraph roads for the first of its kind City outdoor pool.
The pool eventually would have two names and several renovations. It was dedicated in 1942 as Seashore Pool and boasted a sand beach and Olympic size swimming area. Refurbished in 1948, the pool was reported to have the best health safeguards in the country.
Residents remember it then and now as a popular place to spend summers. In July 1959, a newspaper article recorded a weekend attendance of over 15,000 people.
The sand beaches were eventually replaced and in 1976, the late Mayor Orville Hubbard dedicated an enhanced pool complex that included a 45 x 60 foot diving tank, a 50-meter main tank of 75 x 165 feet; a fan-shaped wading pool and a renovated bathhouse.
In 1988, the Levagood Park pool was renamed the Jack Dunworth Memorial Pool Complex to honor Dearborn High School’s beloved swim coach and teacher Jack Dunworth. He also, for many years, managed Seashore Pool, and co-founded the Dearborn Dolphins swim team.
Generations of Dearborn residents learned to swim at classes offered by the Recreation Department at the Levagood Park pool. Others joined swim teams, participated in water exercise, enjoyed sun bathing on the deck or watched annual competitions.
In 2012, events held at Dunworth Pool included the prestigious U.S.S. Annual Swim Meet, annual City Swimming Championships and the annual Synchronized Swim Show.
August 22nd, 2012 at 10:32 am
Let’s celebrate by closing the other pools and building a splash park.
August 22nd, 2012 at 9:23 pm
JACK THE MAYOR SHOULD BE BEYOND EMBARRASSED TO SHOW HE FACE AT AN EVENT LIKE THIS AFTER HE HAS CLOSED THE OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD POOLS, HE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE WEST SIDE NEIGHBORHOODS ! THE ONLY
congratulatory THING HE IS THERE FOR IS THE CAKE… BEFORE MARY LANNDROCH CAN DIRECT JACK … ASK HIM WHO THE PARK WAS NAMED AFTER ???? JUST ANOTHER DOG & PONY SHOW BY THE CITY LEADERS
August 23rd, 2012 at 9:34 am
So what will become of the Synchronized Swim Show and City Swimming Championships if we only have one pool and a splash park? If it is good enough to throw this big bash for, it is good enough to save. It broke my heart to drive by Whitmore this summer when it was well over 90 degrees every day and see all those kids sitting at the craft table with a huge empty swimming pool right behind them. And now we have the money for free hot dogs and a band? This just doesn’t make sense to me.
August 28th, 2012 at 9:51 pm
What’s next? Are we going to take the money we made from selling off the assets of Snow Branch and have a party celebrating Dearborn’s rich library history?
September 1st, 2012 at 8:35 am
LOL you people are hilarious. Get over your smaller pools closing pity party. They are not worth the costs to the average tax payer during these times.
September 8th, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Nice thought from someone who didn’t even grow up here and obviously doesn’t understand the history of these pools.