Plus Pool
Commercial?No
Type of projectPublic swimming pool
LocationEast River, New York City
FounderDong-Ping Wong, Oana Stănescu, Archie Lee Coates IV, Jeffrey Franklin[1]
EstablishedJune 2010
FundingCrowdfunded via Kickstarter
Websitewww.pluspool.org/home/
East River, Manhattan, NYC

Plus Pool, (often stylized as "+ POOL"), is an initiative, started in 2010, to create an innovative, floating swimming pool, located on the East River, in New York City. Two companies, Family New York and PlayLab developed the concept of a 9300 SF floating pool that would filter river water to supply clean water for the pool. As of January 2024, the first permanent location had yet to have been determined.[2][3][4]

Concept

Plus Pool was conceived and designed to both clean the waters of the East River and provide a public space for water-based recreation.[3] Plus Pool is designed to filter up to 500,000 gallons of river water daily through a layered filtration system.[5] Over 250,000 gallons of the river water surrounding the pool would become safe, clean, filtered water used to fill the pool.[6] The original goal was to raise a total of $15 million to fund a completely functioning pool by 2016.[5][7]

History

Beginning in 2010, two companies, Family New York and PlayLab began a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise money for Plus Pool, a innovative pool design, utilizing a custom filtering system as a clean water source for a floating public pool on the East River.[3]

In July 2011, the team raised over $41,000 on Kickstarter to test filtration materials using water from the East River.[8]

In July 2013, with the help of a Columbia University feasibility study, over a quarter million dollars was raised to build a 35 square foot miniature version of the floating pool.[9] [10] The "test lab" was a working prototype to analyze its effectiveness in river conditions.[5]

Since its inception, several independent companies have participated the project, including the engineering firm, Arup,[10][11] design firm IDEO, environmental consultants from One Nature, and Storefront for Art and Architecture.[12][13] The project also garnered interest from government officials, notably New York State Senator Daniel Squadron and New York City Council Member Brad Lander.[14][15]

In November 2013, Time magazine named Plus Pool as one of the 25 best inventions of the year 2013.[16]

Plus Pool was originally projected to open by the summer of 2016, but the project saw little development at that point.[2]

In 2017, Plus Pool formed a partnership with the Heineken brewing company. The team created a promotional video for Plus Pool, narrated by Neil Patrick Harris, to revitalize public interest in the project.[17][18]

In 2019, the founders of Plus Pool introduced a light sculpture in the East River. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Heineken and the Howard Hughes Corporation, the sculpture changes colors based on water conditions. The system and the algorithm behind it was developed by scientists at Columbia University and developers and designers at the tech firm Reaktor.[19]

In 2021, New York City approved a location for Plus Pool just north of the Manhattan Bridge on the Lower East Side. The team proceeded to work on regulatory thresholds for the river and pool bathers.[20][21][22]

In early January 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the city and state of New York would contribute a combined $16 million to Plus Pool. A trial run was planned for the summer of 2024 in the East River. If testing was successful, Plus Pool would open to the public in 2025.[4][23]

References

  1. ↑ "+POOL Team". +POOL. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 Sisak, Michael R. (April 23, 2014). "When does Plus Pool open?". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Matarese, Jennifer (July 6, 2011). "Designers plan floating pool for East or Hudson River". WABC-TV, ABC News. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  4. 1 2 Offenhartz, Jake (January 6, 2024). "Opening in 2025: A floating pool in the East River?". NBC New York. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Willett-Wei, Megan (June 17, 2013). "A Floating Pool In New York's East River Is Getting Closer To Reality". Business Insider. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Griffith, Eric (June 21, 2013). "Kickstarter Tech Project of the Week: +POOL". PC Magazine. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  7. ↑ El Nasser, Haya (1 May 2013). "Crowdfunding gives rise to projects truly in public domain". USA Today. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Rutkoff, Aaron (June 24, 2011). "An East River Pool? Maybe This Idea Isn't Off the Deep End". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Brooks, Katherine (12 July 2013). "Floating Pool Project Is Fully Funded And New Yorkers Everywhere Should Celebrate". Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  10. 1 2 Solon, Olivia (June 17, 2011). "Plus Pool: The floating swimming pool proposed for NYC's river". Wired. Archived from the original on 2013-08-17. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  11. ↑ Mathias, Christopher (16 June 2011). "+ Pool Team Starts Kickstarter Project To Make East River Floating Pool A Reality". Huffington Post. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "+Pool". Storefront for Art and Architecture. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "+Pool on crowdfunding architecture". Arup Connect. Arup. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  14. ↑ Polsky, Sara (4 January 2011). "Brooklyn Bridge Park's Floating Pool Gets a Boost". Curbed. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  15. ↑ "+POOL Timeline". +POOL. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "The 25 Best Inventions of the Year 2013 Read more: The Plus Pool | The 25 Best Inventions of the Year 2013". Time. 14 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-11-17. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  17. ↑ Walker, Ameena (25 April 2017). "New York's +POOL hopes to shore up public support with new campaign". Curbed. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  18. ↑ Warerkar, Tanay (2017-08-04). "Neil Patrick Harris voices new +Pool hype video, and it's kind of awesome". Curbed NY. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  19. ↑ Kurutz, Steven (2019-10-05). "New Yorkers Will Have to Wait for an East River Pool (Published 2019)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  20. ↑ Gleason, Will (May 10, 2021). "This spectacular floating pool now has a home in the East River". Time Out New York. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  21. ↑ Swanson, Carl (May 7, 2021). "First Look: The Plus Pool's Future East River Home". Curbed. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  22. ↑ Hills, Megan C. (May 20, 2021). "New York greenlights floating public pool on the East River". CNN. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  23. ↑ Meko, Hurubie (2024-01-06). "Floating East River Pool May Open to Public Next Year Under Hochul Plan". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
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