A barge containing a swimming pool will be tugged to the Brooklyn Heights waterfront next week, the culmination of a week-long voyage that has taken the barge from Louisiana, around the tip of Florida and up the Atlantic Coast.
The pool, called the “Floating Pool Lady,” will get its finishing touches while docked at Pier 2, on the site of the planned waterfront development project commonly referred to as Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Once the work on the barge is completed this spring, the “Lady” will float to pool-deprived Williamsburg or South Bronx, so residents there can take a dip.
“Lady” is the brainchild of urban designer Ann Buttenweiser, a waterfront planner and the founder of the non-profit Neptune Foundation, which is funding the 82-foot, seven-lane pool.
The Parks Department, which is working to find a permanent home for the floating Lady, is thrilled with the prospect.
“A floating pool on our waterfront is not just an inexpensive way to add a badly needed facility to a community, it also provides a spectacular new swimming experience,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “We look forward to the day when the pool is docked and full of water and happy New Yorkers.”
