I was shocked by the proximity of this community pool to the freeway and the exit ramp. After looking at the photo for a while
I noticed the top of a car in the bushes to the right and realized the entrance ramp was right behind the shrubbery.
Imagine the toxic air these kids were breathing (or the possibility of an out-of-control car careening into the pool).
Echo Park Pool July 9, 1958
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1327543743294
below: Here's the pool today still '
smooshed' into that small area. The actually pool looks like it's in disrepair.
google street view
below: The pool house is a nice structure....understated, but nice.
google street view
below: The
zig-
zag decoration around the doorway mimics the grill-work in the window.
google street views
below: At first I thought the pool house was a simple one story structure..but from this view you can see it's much more substantial.
google street view
below: The big surprises are on the freeway side of the building. There are
two stories with stairs leading down to a row of arches.
Also there's one of those El Camino Real Bells right along side the Hollywood Freeway.
google street view
below: I looked at the sign half hidden by the palm....it said Ped UC. I thought it might mean that there's a pedway underneath the freeway.
google street view
below: Sure enough, there
is a pedway.....in the center of the photo with the red bougainvilleas.
google street view
below: A closer look at the bougainvilleas wreathed pedway.
google street view
below: I was a bit surprised because there is an open pedway a few hundred feet away at Laveta Terrace (lower right).
google street view
below: Laveta Terrace pedway.
google street view
below: Surprisingly there are
four different ways for pedestrians to cross the Hollywood Freeway in this photo.
The two underground pedways mentioned above, the sidewalk along Glendale Blvd at the overpass, AND a pedestrian bridge at the far left.
google street view
below: The pedestrian bridge west of Echo Park Pool at Belmont Ave. (the little bungalow looks very cozy)
google street view
below: The southern portal of the Belmont pedestrian bridge over the Hollywood Freeway.
google street view
Glancing at a map, I would have guessd that there was only
one way to cross the Hollywood Freeway in this small area (the sidewalk under the overpass)...so it was a nice surprise to discover the other
three alternatives.
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Here are a couple more images of the freeway side of the Echo Park Pool House showing the stairs that lead down to the archways.
google street view
below: The arches can be glimpsed below the guard rail.
google street view
OK...I'm done beating this dead horse.
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