SUNSET PARK — Two new pavilions with changing rooms and locker rooms have been installed on the outdoor pool deck at the Sunset Park Recreation Center — and they're slated to open next year.
Under a program from Parsons The New School for Design, a group of graduate students designed and constructed the new facility over the summer in collaboration with the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
The Parsons Design Workshop gives architecture students experience in planning and building a community space while also seeking permits from the city, said Alfred Zollinger, the program’s director and a professor, who will present and discuss the pavilions’ new design at a public meeting this month.
The changing and locker rooms were previously stationed inside the recreation center, a landmarked building on Seventh Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets, occupying space in a multi-purpose room and gym.
As a result, that area of the center could not be used for other programs and activities during the summer pool season.
“Now [the community] can use it 12 months a year,” said Community Board 7’s District Manager Jeremy Laufer.
Public outdoor pools are open only during the summer months.
The two pavilions — one for men and another for women — feature changing rooms, family rooms and a total of roughly 1,000 lockers in both spaces.
While the new pavilions take away a portion of the wide pool deck, they do not hinder people from walking or using that area, both Laufer and Zollinger said.
“This is really an effort to provide greater access for the community,” said Zollinger.
The project, which cost upwards of $150,000 for materials, was primarily funded by a grant from the Durst Family Foundation to the New School, Zollinger said. Roughly 10 full-time students volunteered their services and a construction manager assisted them onsite.
The recreation center, which was constructed between 1934 and 1936, still requires extensive renovations that have been estimated to cost about $30 million, Laufer said.
The Parks Department did not immediately respond for comment.
Zollinger will present and discuss details of the new locker room facility on Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m. during CB7's monthly meeting.
