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Architect: Bridge Park sank proven barge-pool plan for far-out floating facility

Architect: Bridge Park sank proven barge-pool plan for far-out floating facility
Julienne Schaer

Call him nonplussed.

Brooklyn Bridge Park could have had a permanent pool by now, but officials turned their backs on a proven plan for a barge-based swimming hole when a zany, much-hyped proposal for a high-tech floating facility called +Pool came along, claims the architect behind the original plan.

The creator of the “Floating Pool Lady” barge — which thrilled park-goers when it moored there in summer 2007 — claims park honchos were on board to build a full-time version to replace the green space’s temporary “pop-up” pool, which will close at the end of this summer. But when the sexier alternative came along, they said it could no longer raise funds for his bulky industrial design because +Pool had stolen all his thunder.

“We had proposed the floating barge pool four years ago,” said Jonathan Kirschenfeld. “But the park said we’ll never be able to raise the money as long as +Pool is everybody’s idea of a pool.”

Kirschenfeld’s Floating Pool Lady — a seven-lane lagoon atop a re-purposed barge — was so popular when it toured the city in 2007 that the park and Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy applied for a permit to build a permanent version there in 2011.

But the next year, momentum shifted to +Pool — a proposal from design firms Family and PlayLab for an Olympic-sized public bath in the shape of a plus that will use filtered water from the East River. It raised more than $300,000 on Kickstarter and received breathless coverage from media outlets around the city (including this one), and Kirschenfeld claims the conservancy then told his team to sink their plan.

The Floating Pool Lady cost $3.5 million — which was provided at the time by social welfare organization the Neptune Foundation — and is still up and running in the Bronx, but Kirschenfeld says he’d need between $14 and $17 million to create a more long-lasting incarnation, which he could have finished in two years.

“We’re ready to go, somebody just needs to give us the go,” he said.

The +Pool, by comparison, would cost approximately $19 million — $1 million of which has been raised from donors so far — and will take four years to build, according the project’s spokeswoman Kara Meyer. It could never have been ready in time for next summer, as +Pool didn’t start testing its design until 2014.

The company may not even station the pool in Brooklyn Bridge Park, as it is considering nine other locations including Transmitter Park in Greenpoint and the new Domino Sugar Factory development in Williamsburg.

Meyer said the firm meets with reps from the potential sites regularly, though Brooklyn Bridge Park spokeswoman Belinda Cape refused to say how often its management speaks with the +Pool people and if it meets with Kirschenfeld’s group at all.

Kirchenfeld says the park should stop chasing after its dream pool and focus on a bringing a proven concept to the green space as soon as possible, especially since the +Pool has a host of places to drop anchor.

“When +Pool is built, there are plenty of places to put it,” he said. “Right now, for Brooklyn Bridge Park, we really need to get started on a pool that can be built in the next year or two.”

Cape declined to comment on Kirschendfeld’s allegations of pool partisanship, though park honchos have maintained they are open to the idea any floating pool within the open space — though so far, they haven’t found funding for either design, and say the park can’t afford to pay itself.

Meyer also refused to weigh in on claims of favoritism, but applauded the Floating Pool Lady for providing a proof-of-concept and paying homage to New York’s rich history of floating swimming holes.

“We love the Floating Lady and take a lot of inspiration from the project,” she said.

Reach reporter Lauren Gill at lgill@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–2511. Follow her on Twitter @laurenk_gill
Planned addition: The design for the +Pool.
Everybody + Pool