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 * Tompkinsville Pool/Joseph H. Lyons Pool
 * http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2234.pdf
 * http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2235.pdf
 * ("tompkinsville" "pool" or "lyons pool") AND ("richmond" or "staten island" or "new york") NOT ("display ad" OR "classified ad")

The Joseph H. Lyons Pool, also known as the Tompkinsville Pool, is a 3.2 acre public swimming pool complex in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island in New York City. The complex is situated on the North Shore, next to New York Harbor, and consists of a general swimming pool and two smaller pools for diving and wading. The pool complex is served by a one-story brick bathhouse designed in the Art Moderne style, which runs along the pool to the north and west. The bathhouse consists of a northern wing with women's locker and shower rooms; a southern wing with men's locker, men's shower, and boiler rooms; and a connecting rotunda with a main lobby. The pool and recreation center are maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks).

The pool and bathhouse were designed by Joseph L. Hautman during a Works Progress Administration project in 1935–1936. Opened on July 7, 1936, the Tompkinsville Pool was the only WPA-era pool built on Staten Island. The pool was extensively renovated in the 1980s. The complex, including the interior of the bathhouse's lobby, was designated as a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2008. After the neighboring George Cromwell Center was demolished in 2013, plans for a new recreation center above the pool's parking lot were announced in 2017; the new facility, known as the Mary Cali Dalton Recreation Center, is to be completed in 2024.

Description
THe Joseph H. Lyons Pool is in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island in New York City, on the island's North Shore next to New York Harbor. It occupies a site bounded by Murray Hulbert Avenue to the east and south, a dead-end section of Victory Boulevard to the north, and the Staten Island Railway (SIR) to the west. The facility is composed of three separate pools and covers approximately 3.2 acre; of this, the bathhouse and pools cover 2.56 acre. A footbridge crosses the SIR line, connecting the pool complex's entrance with the main portion of Victory Boulevard to the west. The pool complex is one of eleven in New York City built in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal agency created to combat the Depression's negative effects as part of the New Deal. Of these eleven pools, only two were not associated with an existing park; Joseph H. Lyons Pool was one of them.

Bathhouse
The bathhouse is a one-story structure extending in an "L" shape along the western and northern sides of the site. The bathhouse is clad almost entirely with red brick. The north wing contains the women's showers and women's locker rooms, while the west wing contains the men's showers, men's locker rooms, and the boiler and plant house. There is a one-and-a-half-story rotunda at the northwestern corner of the bathhouse, as well as a smokestack at the middle of the bathhouse's western elevation. The rotunda includes a lobby that provides access to the lockers and showers in each wing.

North wing
The north wing's northern elevation sits above a concrete water table and is divided vertically into sixteen bays, which are grouped in three sections. The easternmost section is two bays wide and contains a curved corner; within the easternmost section, the bricks are laid in horizontal courses of headers or stretchers, which are variously recessed or flush with the rest of the facade. Each bay of the eastern section is flanked by round columns and, from bottom to top, consists of a recessed brick wall, a concrete window sill, a hopper window, and an aluminum window with a grille. This section is topped by a bluestone parapet. The central section is eight bays wide and is recessed behind a concrete-and-gravel areaway with mechanical equipment. Each bay of the central section has a red brick wall segment topped by segmentally arched openings with windows or ventilation louvers. The bays in the central section are separated by protruding round columns, and there is a sheet-metal coping and a railing above the facade. The westernmost six bays consist of the protruding rotunda (see ), which is flanked by flat segments of wall.

The eastern elevation is two bays wide and leads to a raised, enclosed concrete plaza at the same level as the pool deck. The plaza is surrounded by planting beds to the east and north; it has a steep ramp descending north to Victory Boulevard, as well as metal gates with brick cheek-walls leading south to the pool. The facade itself is divided vertically into two bays and contains a curved corner at either end. The lower half of the facade is clad in brick and has two metal doors topped by a cast-concrete canopy. In the upper half, there are hopper windows and recessed tripartite windows above each of the doors. Each bay is separated by rounded brick columns. At the southeast corner is a curved wall that surrounds a staircase to the roof, with a gate blocking off access to the staircase.

The southern elevation is ten bays wide. In the westernmost bay is a stoop leading the pool office, as well as another stair from the pool office to the roof deck (blocked off by a metal gate). The westernmost bay has a door and some windows, flanked by round columns, and is illuminated by a lamp. The other nine bays consists of a red brick wall segment topped by segmentally arched openings with hopper windows. The bays are separated by protruding round columns, and there is a sheet-metal coping and a railing above the facade. In two of the bays, the red-brick wall segments beneath the windows contain metal doors. Additionally, there is a protruding 6 ft brick wall concealing the women's locker room entrance. Some signage is stenciled onto the facade.

Rotunda
The rotunda protrudes from the north wing. The exterior of the rotunda contains two segmental arches, with recessed doors flanked by sidelights and topped by transom windows. These doors lead to the building's lobby, which in turn leads to the locker rooms, showers, and pool. There is a metal sign above the doors, with the name "Joseph H. Lyons Pool", as well as lights and an alarm box on the facade. Above the doorways is an upper clerestory level with tall, narrow segmentally arched openings; these contain aluminum sash windows. A bluestone coping is placed atop the upper clerestory level, as well as above the rotunda's drum. To the west of this rotunda is a set of windows with grilles above them, as well as a louvered doorway. The northwest corner of the rotunda contains a curved brick wall, which conceals a concrete stairway that, until the 1980s, was connected to a footbridge above the Staten Island Railway's Tompkinsville station.

The interior of the rotunda is a circular space with ticket counters, a package room, and an alcove with telephones. Hallways lead south to the men's lockers and showers in the western wing and east to the women's lockers and showers in the north wing. The rotunda itself contains a terrazzo floor with a starburst pattern. The lower section of the wall is made of brick that is laid in alternating courses of headers and stretchers. This is topped by a frieze of cast concrete, followed by smooth clerestory walls with pairs of narrow windows. Above the entire lobby is a domed ceiling. Construction drawings indicate that the ceiling may have once contained a mural, and that the frieze and clerestory walls may have contained stenciled decorations; by the 21st century, the frieze, clerestory walls, and ceiling were all painted in an off-white color. There are also various signs, doors, and louvers placed on the rotunda's perimeter wall ,as well as spotlights on the walls and ceiling. Turnstiles are placed on the terrazzo floors, though there is no charge to use the building in the 21st century.

West wing
The west wing's western elevation is divided vertically into twenty bays. The northernmost part of the facade protrudes slightly, running next to the SIR line; it conceals the stairway next to the rotunda. Immediately to the south is a narrow window facing south (where the northernmost section steps back) and three bays of rectangular windows facing west. This is followed by a second section with eight bays, which illuminate the men's lockers and shower rooms; the northernmost of these bays has a pair of windows, while the remaining seven bays have segmentally arched windows separated by round columns. This section has bluestone coping and a metal railing. The third section is three bays wide and is slightly taller than the other sections, with either recessed louvers or blind openings separated by round columns. The fourth, southernmost section has six bays that illuminate the filter room. This section lacks windows and instead has segmentally arched blind openings, some ventilation openings, a bluestone coping, and a metal roof rail.

The southern elevation is mostly unornamented and faces south toward a parking lot. The roofline of this elevation steps down to the east because there is a staircase behind the wall. At the center of the southern elevation are two windows, one of which has a grille. The facade is topped by bluestone coping and a steel railing.

The eastern elevation is divided into two sections by a smokestack at the center of the facade. In the southern half of this elevation, the southernmost bay leads to the stair on the southern elevation. Between this stair and the smokestack are six bays, with red-brick wall segments and segmentally arched windows separated by round columns; two of these bays have doors, and one bay has a louver. The facade is topped by bluestone coping and a steel railing. At the center of the facade, a semicircular smokestack protrudes from a concave niche and tapers as it rises. The top of the smokestack is ornamented with NYC Parks' logo and horizontal concrete bands. The northern half of the eastern elevation is eight bays wide and similar in design to the southern half. In two of the bays, the red-brick wall segments beneath the windows contain metal doors. Additionally, there is a protruding brick wall concealing the men's locker room entrance. Some signage is stenciled onto the facade.

Roof deck
Most of the bathhouse's roof, except the section above the rotunda, is occupied by a deck that was originally used as a sunbathing or observation deck. The deck is enclosed by brick parapets and metal railings and was formerly accessible by three staircases. The roof deck was originally made of split brick but was later covered with asphalt. The north wing's has two mechanical dormers that contain fan rooms, as well as a staircase leading to the overpass above the SIR line. Above the office, at the northwest corner of the building, is an unused rectangular concession stand with a brick facade and rounded corners. The west wing's roof is composed of two shorter sections to the north and south, both of which have stairs leading up to the boiler room's tall roof in the center. There is a mechanical dormer with a fan room on the northernmost section of the west wing's roof, while there are no structures on the southernmost section's roof.

Pools
The pool area occupies much of the site. Along the southern and eastern boundaries of the site is a 4 ft retaining wall with brick facing and stone coping; the wall is topped by chain-link fencing. The pool deck is near the top of the retaining wall and is surrounded by an inner wall composed of a brick cheek wall, cast iron fence, and brick piers. Oak trees are planted in between the retaining wall and the inner wall. The deck was originally illuminated by 25 lamps, many of which are still intact. There are also some Belgian-block planting areas with oak trees; wooden benches upon concrete pedestals; a flagpole near the diving pool to the south; and some cast-concrete drinking fountains. Signs are painted onto the pool deck. The complex was intended to accommodate up to 2.800 swimmers simultaneously.

The main pool occupies the northern half of the site. It measures 100 by across and is oriented from west to east. When it was rebuilt in the 1980s, a new gutter and ladders, concrete ramp, and pipe railing were added, and the original lights were removed. To the south of the main pool were diving and wading pools, both measuring 68 by. The diving pool had a diving board, diving platform, and pipe railing designed in the Art Moderne style, as well as stainless-steel gutters added in the 1980s. The wading pool sloped down to a depth of 2.5 ft but was made even shallower after the 1980s. The site of the wading pool is surrounded by a chain link fence, with a gate to the west, and contains 12 sprinklers on its perimeter and two sprinklers at its center.

Associated structures
, a new recreation facility known as the Mary Cali Dalton Recreation Center is being developed on top of the Lyons Pool's parking lot. The new facility will cover 45000 ft2 and span three stories. When complete, the building will contain fitness rooms, cardio rooms, basketball courts, an enclosed garage, and electric vehicle chargers.

History
Floating outdoor swimming pools have existed on New York City's rivers since 1870, while the city's first free public bathhouse opened in 1891. Although the floating outdoor pools had been supplanted by the bathhouses by the early 20th century, there was still demand for outdoor pools. The city had only two outdoor pools in 1934; Faber Park on Staten Island and Betsy Head Park in Brooklyn.

Works Progress Administration
In 1934, Robert Moses was nominated by mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia to become commissioner of a unified New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. At the time, the United States was experiencing the Great Depression; immediately after La Guardia won the 1933 election, Moses began to write "a plan for putting 80,000 men to work on 1,700 relief projects". By the time he was in office, several hundred projects were underway across the city.

Moses was especially interested in creating new pools and other bathing facilities, such as those in Jacob Riis Park, Jones Beach, and Orchard Beach. He devised a list of 23 pools around the city, including a brand-new pool in Tompkinsville, Staten Island. The pools would be built using funds from the WPA. Eleven of these pools were to be designed concurrently and open in 1936. Moses, along with architects Aymar Embury II and Gilmore David Clarke, created a common design for each of the 11 proposed aquatic centers. Each location was to have distinct pools for diving, swimming, and wading; bleachers and viewing areas; and bathhouses with locker rooms that could be used as gymnasiums. The pools were to have several common features, such as a minimum 55 yd length, underwater lighting, heating, filtration, and low-cost construction materials. To fit the requirement for cheap materials, each building would be built using elements of the Streamline Moderne and Classical architectural styles. The buildings would also be near "comfort stations", additional playgrounds, and spruced-up landscapes.

Moses had planned a single pool in Staten Island, which was originally scheduled to be built near New Brighton. The proposed pool was relocated to Tompkinsville after Joseph A. Palma recommended the site, which was next to the under-construction George Cromwell Center and the Staten Island Railway. Construction for some of the 11 pools began in October 1934. Aymar Embury filed plans for the Tompkinsville Pool in March 1935, which called for a single-story bathhouse, a main swimming pool, and smaller wading and diving pools next to it. Workers had already begun constructing the pool. The U.S. government provided $809,428 for the Tompkinsville Park Pool in July 1935; at the time, eight of the pools were under construction simultaneously. By mid-1936, ten of the eleven WPA-funded pools were completed and were being opened at a rate of one per week. Workers were putting finishing touches on the Tompkinsville Pool as late as July 4–5, 1936, over the Memorial Day weekend. The Tompkinsville Pool officially opened July 7, 1936, with 7,500 people attending the dedication ceremony. It was the fourth WPA pool in New York City to open,  as well as the only one in Staten Island.

20th century
Before the Tompkinsville Pool had even opened, in 1935, the New York City Board of Aldermen had agreed to rename the pool after Joseph H. Lyons, a local World War I veteran who had died in 1934. The pool was formally renamed after Lyons on Memorial Day in 1938. A plaque honoring Lyons was installed on the bathhouse's Victory Boulevard elevation, near the entrance. In the Lyons Pool's first years of operation, only children could use the main pool on weekdays before 1 p.m. and were allowed to enter for free. The pool was converted into a venue for games such as volleyball and basketball during the spring and fall, and it became an ice-skating rink during winter; this seasonal conversion into a pla area continued through the 1950s. The pool remained almost entirely unchanged in the years after its completion, although alteration drawings were filed in 1944 and again in 1967. Some visitors died in the pool over the years, including a seven-year-old girl in 1952.

By the 1970s, Tompkinsville Pool and other city parks were in poor condition due to the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, prompting NYC Parks commenced a project to restore the pools in several parks in 1977. By March 1981, NYC Parks only had 2,900 employees in its total staff, less than 10 percent of the 30,000 present when Moses was parks commissioner. In 1982, the NYC Parks budget increased greatly, enabling the agency to carry out $76 million worth of restoration projects by year's end; among these projects was the renovation of the Tompkinsville Pool, which cost $6.7 million.

NYC Parks continued to face financial shortfalls in the coming years, and the pools retained a reputation for being unsafe. For the summer of 1991, mayor David Dinkins had planned to close all 32 outdoor pools in the city, a decision that was only reversed after a $2 million donation from a trust created upon the death of real estate developer Sol Goldman and $1.8 million from other sources. Additionally, in the 1990s, a practice called "whirlpooling" became common in New York City pools such as Tompkinsville Pool, wherein women would be inappropriately fondled by teenage boys. By the turn of the century, crimes such as sexual assaults had decreased in parks citywide due to increased security.

21st century
On September 16, 2008, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Joseph H. Lyons Pool, as well as the bathhouse's interior and exterior, as a landmark. The commission had previously considered the pool for landmark status in 1990, along with the other ten WPA pools in the city; the LPC had considered designating the pools again in 2007.

After the neighboring Cromwell Center was demolished in 2013, local politicians Michael McMahon and Debi Rose began advocating for the construction of a replacement structure, and NYC Parks was allocated $700,000 for a feasibility study of such a project. NYC Parks announced in 2017 that it intended to build a 95000 ft2 recreation center above Lyons Pool's parking lot in 2017. In addition, the diving pool would be replaced with a water playground and children's playground. The Lyons Pool was temporarily closed during part of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. NYC Parks began soliciting ideas for a new recreation center at Tompkinsville in 2021, and the recreation center was named for Mary Cali Dalton, former director of recreation for Staten Island, that year.

In November 2022, NYC Parks and the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) announced that the Mary Cali Dalton Recreation Center was to be built above the Lyons Pool's parking lot at a cost of $92 million. Designed by ikon.5 and built by Kokolakis Contracting, this recreation center was to be completed by 2025 and would be the first-ever structure built by NYC Parks under a single design–build contract. NYC Parks announced in January 2023 that the rotunda of Lyons Pool's bathhouse was to be renovated at a cost of $2.6 million; at the time, the project was slated to be completed in 2024. Work on the Mary Cali Dalton Recreation Center commenced in February 2024.