ELMIRA, NY (WENY) -- Demolition crews arrived Monday morning to begin tearing down the decaying Brand Park Memorial pool on Elmira's south side.

The fate of the pool had been in the balance for years; Elmira city council voted in 2023 that the pool should be demolished, after it was deemed beyond repair. The pool had been closed since 2006.

PHOTO: Brand Park Memorial Pool, July 2024

The art-deco style pool was designed by architect Wesley Bintz, and was only a handful of surviving pools of his design in the United States. Originally built in 1926, it was damaged in a flood and later rebuilt in the late 1940's. 

Plans for demolition hit a snag, after the city needed state approval to demolish the structure following an engineering study to see if it could be salvaged. The state green-lighted the demolition in October, and in December, the city approved a bid to demo the pool at a cost of almost $94,000. A new playground and splash pad is expected to be built at the site, using almost $900,000 in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds.

  City of Elmira

PHOTO: Rendering of proposed playground and splash pad for Brand Park, January 2025 

Several grassroots efforts among community members to save the pool were unsuccessful. On Monday, as several community members watched from their cars, or came up to what was left of the structure, they couldn't help but think back to old times.

"I came to the pool as a kid back in the 60s. I lived right here on Riverside Avenue. We came in the morning when it was free to swim, and in the afternoon it was 10 cents. I came with a lot of my friends and as I got older, I brought my kids here," said William Van Ripper, who used to swim at Brand Park Pool.

Van Ripper said a lot of people were sad about the historic pool being torn down.

"I think it's a sad day for the people [of] Elmira because this was like an icon. It goes clear back to my parent's time in the 40s [when] they swam and used this. It's just going to be a hard pill to swallow for people," said Van Ripper.

According to Elmira Mayor Dan Mandell, the plan is to keep the facade, and use it as the entrance to the new splash pad and playground. He said he knows how important this pool was to the community, but unfortunately there was no saving it.

"There's a lot of memories there for people who lived in Elmira for a lot of years... Unfortunately as time went on, the pool deteriorated beyond a point where it couldn't be saved. This is a sad day in some respects because it has to come down. But those memories will always be there for community members," said Mayor Mandell.

Here are some photos of Monday's demolition: