End of summer swimming notes: Medgar Evers Pool reopens, last days of the Leschi Fire Dock

Here are updates on two Central District-area parks construction projects involving longer than expected timelines — and swimming.

• Medgar Evers Pool reopens after 10-month closure: On 23rd Ave’s Garfield High School and Community Center campus, the public Medgar Evers Pool has finally reopened after a longer-than-expected construction closure. CHS reported in March how a planned “8-week closure” for planned upgrades was stretching out for months after “failing” beams” were found in the roof structure of the 56-year-old public pool. Closed since last November for the beam repair plus accessibility improvements, HVAC replacement, and renovation of the men’s and women’s locker rooms, the pool has reopened for its full schedule of open swim, classes, and more. We’ve asked the city for the final price tag on the overhaul and repairs. Learn more at seattle.gov.
• Goodbye to the Leschi Fire Dock: The $7.9 million overhaul at Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Leschi South Marina is ready to go back into motion after the work was paused in May over community outcry about the construction project’s impact on nearby businesses. Tell your kids this is their last chance to enjoy the marina’s popular — and very old — swim dock before construction work begins on the project on Monday. The project is a significant undertaking with plans to remove the existing timber pier and floating dock, “which are supported by creosote-treated piles and are nearing the end of their useful life.” The existing pipe pile breakwater, which the city says does not “adequately protect the marina from wave action,” will also be removed. A new breakwater with a boat sewage pump-out facility, and boat moorage with public access will be floated with benches and a kayak rack. As part of the project, divers are also removing trash from the area as well as the creosote timber. There are no details on how the new dock setup will accommodate Leschi’s old Fire Dock summer swim crowds. “Teen hangout” wasn’t included in the city’s community priorities for the project. There’s also no telling why the southern dock at Leschi has been known as the Fire Dock. It never served as moorage for the Seattle Fire Department’s freshwater marine response on Lake Washington or any other related possibilities, according to city records.