A $40 million plan to rebuild the 1927 Municipal Plunge, what is being built, how long it will take, and the question every neighbor asks: where will everyone park?
When will the Griffith Park Pool reopen, and what is being built?
The city's target for reopening the Griffith Park Pool is around July 2029. Plans presented at a March 19, 2026 community open house call for a roughly $40 million rebuild designed by Perkins Eastman: a 50-meter competition pool, a 25-yard training pool and a modernized pool house inside its preserved 1927 Spanish Colonial Revival shell. Debbie Pisaro of Coastline 840 (DRE #01369110) follows the project for Los Feliz buyers and sellers.
If you have driven past the corner of Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Boulevard, you have seen it: the chain-link fence, the empty basin, and the beautiful 1927 Spanish Colonial Revival pool house sitting dry and silent behind it all.
The Griffith Park Municipal Plunge has been closed since 2020. For anyone who lives in Los Feliz, who grew up here, or who chose this neighborhood in part because of what Griffith Park means to daily life, that closure has been a quiet loss. The plan the city unveiled in March 2026 is to fully rebuild it: not patch it, not band-aid it, but tear out the failing basin and build something designed to last another century.
Los Feliz, in your inbox
Pool updates, the park corner, and the neighborhood's quiet listings, written by Debbie Pisaro.
Join the Los Feliz Living list Or call (310) 362-6429What happened to the Griffith Park Pool?
The Municipal Plunge opened in 1927, the same era that gave Los Feliz its Spanish Colonial Revival houses and the architectural character that still defines the neighborhood. It was the biggest public pool in Los Angeles, a grand public gesture at the edge of one of the country's great urban parks.
In 2020, pandemic closures shut it down. When the city tried to refill it afterward, engineers found the foundation had cracked and the pool no longer held water. Rather than attempt a repair that would not last, they made the call to start over. That decision set off a multi-year planning process that reached a community open house at the Griffith Park Visitor Center on March 19, 2026, where about 50 Los Feliz residents came to hear what is coming.
What is being built
Perkins Eastman, the firm that led the expansion of Griffith Observatory from 2002 to 2006, is designing the new complex. The plans call for four things.
A 50-meter competition pool
A full-length, year-round competition pool, the kind that can host swim meets and serious lap swimmers rather than only a summer crowd.
A 25-yard training pool
A second pool with a gentle, ADA-compliant sloped entry, built for children learning to swim and for older swimmers who need a gradual way in.
A modernized pool house, exterior preserved
The 1927 Spanish Colonial Revival exterior stays. Inside: a new elevator, updated accessibility features, energy-efficiency upgrades and a gender-neutral bathhouse with private changing rooms.
An accessible path to the bus stops
The plans add an ADA-compliant path connecting the bus stops on Los Feliz Boulevard and Riverside Drive to the pool and the neighboring playground.
The timeline, realistic but ambitious
City officials were candid at the March 2026 meeting. The schedule as presented ran roughly 40 months: six months of construction documents, five months of permits, five months of contractor selection, 18 months of construction and six months of close-out. If everything goes to plan, the rebuilt pool opens around July 2029. Later reporting put the start of construction around summer 2027.
City engineer Ohaji Abdallah told attendees, “I expect this to be about $40 million,” acknowledging the increase from the earlier $28 million estimate because of soft costs and market conditions. Officials also named the complications: the site sits between the 5 Freeway and the Los Angeles River, haul routes for demolition trucks were still being finalized, and construction funding will compete with other city priorities.
2029 is the goal, not the guarantee. But the planning is further along than it has ever been, the design firm is under contract, and a full room at the community meeting is how a neighborhood keeps a project moving.
Where will everyone park?
I play tennis across the street from the pool, and when I saw the plans my first question was the one my neighbors ask: where is everyone going to park? A 50-meter pool brings swim teams, lap swimmers and summer crowds to a corner that already serves the tennis courts, the playground, Friendship Auditorium and the Adult Center.
The honest answer is that the published pool plans do not include a parking plan. What they do include is the accessible path from the Los Feliz Boulevard and Riverside Drive bus stops, a sign the city expects some swimmers to arrive without a car. Parking for the whole corner is expected to be decided through the South Griffith Park Master Plan, whose scope covers transportation and circulation along with the pool, the auditorium, the Adult Center and the Los Feliz Nursery School.
If you live near Riverside Drive, now is the time to weigh in, while the master plan is still taking input. Comments on the pool design go to griffithparkpool@lacity.org. For what daily life looks like on this edge of the park, see living next to Griffith Park in Los Feliz and the guide to walkable Los Feliz near Griffith Park.
Los Feliz, off the market
Some of the best homes near the park trade before they hit the public sites. See what is moving quietly.
Join the Pocket Listings listWhy this matters for Los Feliz real estate
Public investment in a neighborhood's landmarks is one of the clearer signals of how a city sees that neighborhood. When Los Angeles commits roughly $40 million to rebuild a historic pool to competition standard, it is investing in the Griffith Park edge that already makes Los Feliz one of the most desirable places to live in the city.
For buyers weighing Los Feliz against other Eastside neighborhoods, a restored public pool a short drive from Laughlin Park and the Oaks, and closer still to the condos at Los Feliz Towers on the boulevard, is a real quality-of-life point. For sellers it is a story worth telling: the park is the backyard, and the pool is coming back.
Los Feliz has always justified its pricing through lifestyle: Griffith Park, the Observatory, the Village, the architecture, the trails. Los Feliz competes for buyers with landmark neighborhoods across California, from Pasadena to Palm Springs, and a restored 1927 pool house at the park's edge is the kind of detail those buyers notice.
The architecture connection
Perkins Eastman, previously known as Pfeiffer Partners, is the firm behind the Griffith Observatory renovation completed in 2006, which preserved the Observatory's historic exterior while modernizing everything inside. Here it is being asked to do the same thing: keep the 1927 Spanish Colonial Revival shell and rebuild the interior for a new century.
For a neighborhood with more than 50 Historic-Cultural Monuments, from Spanish Colonial Revival houses like the Seyler House to the Mulholland Fountain at the park's front door just steps from the pool, that is the right approach. It is also why owners of designated homes should understand how HCM designation affects home value in Los Feliz.
All Things Architectural
The architects, the houses, and how they trade across Los Feliz. Debbie Pisaro's letter on architectural homes.
Join All Things ArchitecturalWhat happens in the meantime
The site stays fenced through the entire build. The Los Feliz Nursery School, which sits close to the pool, was a specific concern raised by residents at the meeting, and planners said they are working through construction staging to limit disruption. Until the pool reopens, the nearest city-run pools for Los Feliz residents are in Echo Park, Hollywood and Glassell Park.
What I am watching
I have lived and worked in this neighborhood for more than two decades, and I have watched the pool fence go up, stay up and quietly become part of the landscape. Its absence is felt most in summer, when Griffith Park fills up and the one amenity that could handle real volume sits empty. I am watching the budget, the contractor selection and the parking decision, and when this pool opens I will be writing about it again.
If you want to talk about what this means for your home, your block or your plans to buy in Los Feliz, start with the Los Feliz neighborhood guide or reach out below.
debbie@coastline840.com
DRE #01369110 · 160 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Coastline 840 is a DBA of Side, Inc., CA DRE #02014153
The Griffith Park Pool, answered
When will the Griffith Park Pool reopen?
The city's target is around July 2029. The schedule presented at the March 19, 2026 community open house runs about 40 months: six months of construction documents, five of permits, five of contractor selection, 18 of construction and six of close-out. Later reporting put the start of construction around summer 2027. Treat 2029 as the goal, not a guarantee.
How much will the Griffith Park Pool rebuild cost?
City engineers put the rebuild at about $40 million at the March 2026 open house, up from an earlier estimate of $28 million. Officials attributed the increase to soft costs and market conditions, and construction funding still has to compete with other city priorities, so the final figure can move before work begins.
What is being built at the Griffith Park Pool?
The plans call for a 50-meter competition pool, a 25-yard training pool with a gradual ADA-compliant entry, and a modernized pool house. The 1927 Spanish Colonial Revival exterior of the pool house is preserved, while the interior gets an elevator, accessibility upgrades, energy-efficiency work and a gender-neutral bathhouse with private changing rooms.
Where is the Griffith Park Pool?
The Griffith Park Pool is at 3401 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles 90027, just inside the park near where Riverside Drive meets Los Feliz Boulevard. It sits beside the park's tennis courts and a short walk from the Mulholland Fountain, Historic-Cultural Monument #162, at the southeast entrance to Griffith Park.
Where will people park when the Griffith Park Pool reopens?
The published pool plans do not include a parking plan. They do add an accessible path from the bus stops on Los Feliz Boulevard and Riverside Drive to the pool and playground. Parking for the wider corner is expected to be worked out through the South Griffith Park Master Plan, whose scope covers transportation and circulation. Comments can go to griffithparkpool@lacity.org.
Why did the Griffith Park Pool close?
The pool closed in 2020 during pandemic shutdowns. When the city tried to refill it afterward, engineers found the foundation had cracked and the pool no longer held water. Rather than attempt a repair that would not last, the city decided to demolish the basin and rebuild, keeping the historic 1927 pool house.
Who is designing the new Griffith Park Pool?
Perkins Eastman, formerly Pfeiffer Partners, is designing the rebuild. It is the firm that led the renovation and expansion of Griffith Observatory, completed in 2006, which preserved the Observatory's historic exterior while modernizing the interior. The pool project asks for the same approach: keep the 1927 shell and rebuild the rest for the next century.
Sources: Los Angeles Times via AOL; The Eastsider; Hollywood United Neighborhood Council; Los Angeles Recreation and Parks.