Plunge Ready to Rise From Depths of Neglect

The Mission Beach Plunge, an innocent bystander caught in the cross fire of an angry neighborhood feud, closed its doors in April, 1987, a deteriorated vestige of the renowned facility that opened in 1925 as the world’s largest indoor salt-water pool.

With its filtration system failing and a stale odor filling the cavernous building that housed the 175-by-60-foot pool, the decaying Plunge hardly seemed the site of Hollywood extravaganzas or one of the main attractions of the New Mission Beach Amusement Center that developer John Spreckels opened to tremendous fanfare 63 years ago.

Outside its crumbling arches, a political battle raged. Community members, irate at a City Council intent on turning the shuttered amusement park surrounding the Plunge into specialty shops, fought bitterly to scuttle the plans. They gathered petitions for a ballot initiative that passed overwhelmingly in November, too late to stop the $18-million shopping center.

Bitterness Remains

A year later, the dust from that turbulence is settling. Although bitterness remains--there are those who hope the now-constructed shopping center will fail financially--Mission Beach is preparing to welcome the Plunge back from refugee status.

Owners of Fitness Advantage, the shiny, new health club that now boasts the Plunge as its centerpiece, are scheduled to open spigots and fire hoses this afternoon to begin the 72-hour process of filling the 400,000-gallon pool, now merely the largest in Southern California. The pool’s opening is scheduled for sometime between Tuesday and July 11.

The reopening is cheering leaders on both sides of the feud.

“I look forward to the pool opening because I really think it’s a functional historical site,” said Helen Duffy, who as president of the Mission Beach Town Council, helped lead the fight to preserve Belmont Park. “It will be welcomed by the people of San Diego, not just the people of the beach area but all the people of San Diego.”

“Now that people have seen the architectural design, how it has upgraded the area, we are getting a lot of positive feedback” on both the pool and the shopping center, said Gary Hollenbeck, president of Phase One Development, which will begin opening the stores and restaurants around the Plunge by the end of July.

The Plunge does not return unchanged by development. Its solid walls have given way to huge, arched windows that let light into the 2 1/2-acre building. Its deep end, once filled with water to 9 feet, has been raised about 2 1/2 feet to allow some of the mechanics of its new state-of-the-art filtration system to be placed underneath. There will be new arches and sculptures to decorate the huge, exterior walls.

Other upgrades were made to preserve the pool’s history. Thousands of tiny tiles used to repair the floor of the pool were brought in to match the original ones carried by horse and wagon from Ensenada.

The Spanish Renaissance arches that adorn the Plunge’s main entrance south of the building were replicated in exquisite detail from molds of the originals. They are now being installed.

A large fountain pedestal and two ancient staircases leading into the pool’s deep end remain, rescued by Mayor Maureen O’Connor and the City Council when the county health department ordered them torn out as a safety hazard earlier this year.

State Exemption

O’Connor, who learned to swim at the Plunge and later was a lifeguard there, won a state exemption for the historic edifices by agreeing to add handrails on the narrow steps and place contrasting color tiles in the pedestal.

In an effort to recapture some of the Plunge’s loyal following, Richard Meyer, president of Fitness Advantage, plans to offer both his members and the public the wide variety of swim programs that kept people coming to the pool, even as it deteriorated in its later years.

Of course, some things are irretrievable. On opening day 63 years ago, admission to the Plunge was free, though it cost 25 to 50 cents to rent a locker and one of the 3,000 wool swimsuits that were available. Meyer will charge adults $2; children and senior citizens will pay $1.75.

The original Plunge opened to a day of festivities that included swimming, rowing and diving exhibitions. Meyer is thinking of a grand opening featuring District 6 Councilman Bruce Henderson as the first person to dive into the renovated pool.

Some Hope for Failure

Equally elusive may be some of the good will lost in the fight over Belmont Park. Although the shopping center, not the pool, was the target of the anger, there are those who hope that the development will fail so the city can raze the buildings and return Belmont Park to parkland.

“We’re really bitter, and we haven’t lost our anger yet,” said Hal Becker, who owns the nearby Mission Beach Shirt Shop and fought the development for years.

His daughter Carole Havlet, who owns the store next door, concedes that she will probably take her children to the Plunge for the synchronized swim programs. After all, they used to swim there all the time, before the Plunge closed for renovations.

“But we won’t go over for anything else,” Havlet said, shooting a glance at the shopping center. “If it bellies up, it will make us sad. We’re hoping that, if and when it bellies up, the city will see it clear to take it back.”