Client: City of Tampa
Location: 3002 North 15th Street
Site: An existing above grade swimming pool, originally constructed in 1937, in the Barrio Latino Historic District of Ybor City.
Program Challenge: To fully restore the swimming pool and deck and repurpose the ground floor locker rooms for community use. The facility needed to be updated for code compliance, and comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Rehabilitation of Historic Structures. The building was 8,650 square feet and the pool area was 7,800 square feet.
Solution: Rowe Architects focused it renovation and redesign of the Cuscaden Park Swimming Pool facility on creating usefulness and accessibility for the neighborhood. The existing swimming pool was converted from a diving pool to a heated, year-round community swimming pool with handicapped accessibility. The pool’s wading area for small children and non-swimmers was redesigned as a family-friendly environment with the addition of a colorful, animated water feature. To provide shade, the deck surrounding the pool was partially covered with a fabric awning, reminiscent of an original 1937 un-built design discovered while researching the original construction drawings for the pool.
The original locker rooms below the pool deck were converted into a multi-purpose recreational room, a yoga room, a wellness/fitness room, offices and storage spaces, and a public lobby/reception space. An elevator was also added to make the facility fully handicap accessible and the rehabilitation brought the building up to current codes. An enhanced landscape scheme and expanded public parking areas were also added.
The project was awarded Landmark Status by the Barrio Latino Architectural Review Board, the 2006 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, 2006 Community Design Award from the Tampa/Hillsborough Planning Commission, and the 2006 Banner Award from Tampa Preservation Inc.