Photo courtesy of the city of Dearborn
Dunworth Pool today features a 45-foot-by-60-foot diving tank and a 50-meter tank of 75 feet by 165 feet.
Aug. 23 event at Dunworth includes free swimming, concert and refreshments
DEARBORN – The Recreation and Parks Department will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Dunworth Pool from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday at Levagood Park on North Denwood.
The event includes free swimming until dusk. Free hot dogs and pop will be available from 7 to 9:30 p.m. with complimentary cake served following Mayor John O’Reilly Jr’s. congratulatory remarks at 8 p.m.
The Bomb Squad entertains with a Funk and Dunk Concert from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The pool deck will be open until 10 p.m. Pool rules apply.
Photo courtesy of the city of Dearborn
City officials meet in Levagod Park in the fall of 1940 to determine the site of Seashore Pool. From left are: City Controller Earl Maples, Councilman Jamie Johnson, Councilman Ernest Miller, Public Works Supt. Clark Greene, City Engineer F.R. Storrer, Mayor John Carey, Councilman Joseph Schaefer, Councilman Anthony Esper, Dearborn Press Publisher William Klamser, Councilman Clarence Doyle, Recreation Department Supt. Henry Schubert, and Councilman and former Mayor Clyde Ford.
The pool at Levagood Park has historical significance. In 1940, local officials selected the 40-acre site located near Cherry Hill and Telegraph roads for the first-of-its-kind city outdoor pool.
Photo courtesy of the city of Dearborn
Seashore Pool begins to take shape in 1941.
Photo courtesy of the city of Dearborn
Seashore Pool in Levagood Park.
Photo courtesy of the city of Dearborn
Mayor Orville Hubbard and city officials encourage swimmers following renovations in 1948.
The pool had two names and several renovations through the years. It was dedicated in 1942 as Seashore Pool and boasted a sand beach and Olympic size swimming area. Refurbished in 1948, the pool was reported to have the best health safeguards in the country.
Residents remember it then and now as a popular place to spend summers. In July 1959, a newspaper article recorded a weekend attendance of over 15,000 people.
Photo courtesy of the city of Dearborn
Seashore Pool in Levagood Park opens for the season on Memorial Day weekend in 1948.
Photo courtesy of the city of Dearborn
Seashore Pool was known for its sandy beach.
The sand beaches were eventually replaced and in 1976, Mayor Orville Hubbard dedicated an enhanced pool complex that included a 45-foot-by-60-foot diving tank, a 50-meter main tank of 75 feet by 165 feet; a fan-shaped wading pool and a renovated bathhouse.
In 1988, the Levagood Park pool was renamed the Jack Dunworth Memorial Pool Complex to honor longtime Dearborn High School swim coach and teacher Jack Dunworth. He also, for many years, managed Seashore Pool, and co-founded the Dearborn Recreation Dolphins swim team.
Generations of Dearborn residents learned to swim at classes offered by the Recreation Department at the pool. Others joined swim teams, participated in water exercise, enjoyed sun bathing on the deck or watched annual competitions.
In 2012, events held at Dunworth Pool included the U.S.S. Annual Swim Meet, annual City Swimming Championships and the annual Synchronized Swim Show.
For more information, call 313-562-0215.