Nosy Parker: We Envy Da Pool!
Over the weekend Seattlest visited Lincoln Park in West Seattle for the first time. At 135 acres, there was more ground to cover than we could manage after our picnic (there are five different picnic areas) -- so we decided on checking out the waterfront path. But there are three ballfields and two tennis courts, too, if you're into that kind of thing.
It was on the waterfront path that we discovered what West Seattleites (some of our best friends used to live in West Seattle) have been hiding from us all these years: Colman Pool. A country-club-looking, Olympic-length, 8-lane, seawater pool kept at 85 degrees -- with 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards, a tube slide for kids, and even a plexiglass windbreak so the poolside sunbathing in chaise lounges is comfortable.
Just feet away from Puget Sound, the pool owes its existence to the tide and Kenneth Colman:
The heated, saltwater Colman Pool began as a tide-fed swimming hole in 1929, and was periodically hosed out by the fire department to rid it of accumulating mud and debris. It became so popular that residents began asking for a concrete bottom and sides - much to the chagrin of the city, which wanted to abandon it entirely. The pool took final concrete form in 1941, when Kenneth Colman, son of Laurence, donated $150,000 to have it built in honor of his father.
The pool is open for the summer, June 17 - September 4. While you're out there, that waterfront path is spectacular for views. It's partly paved and partly gravel and in places there's three feet or so of sandy beach where you can refresh your memory on how cold the Puget Sound is (55 degrees is the average summertime surface temperature).
