Francis Pool Closed This Summer
Huge Crack Discovered in Deep End
Posted: June 6, 2022.
The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) announced in January that "some stabilizations and needed repairs" were going to be made to the decking, plaster, and plumbing before the Francis Swimming Pool opened as scheduled for the summer season.
In the course of that work, however, they determined that the southwest corner of the pool shell was "leaning and cracking."
The D.C. Department of General Services, which is responsible for maintenance of public property, states that "contractors discovered unexpected structural problems" in a "Francis Pool Project Update Statement."
The photo at right shows part of the 60-foot section of the pool wall that is currently being replaced.
The original Francis Swimming Pool opened on July 14, 1928, and was the first public pool in the District in which African-American residents were permitted to swim. It, too, developed a serious leak and was replaced in 1992 by the current pool.
Christopher Dyer, a DPR representative, told the Foggy Bottom Association meeting of May 31 that the pool would be closed all summer and that DPR hopes "to bring it on-line in 2023."