Historic Tulsa Pools Need Urgent Funding
The Lortondale Club and 5300 Club pool boards, in addition to the Hoover Neighborhood Association and Lortondale Neighborhood Association (in Tulsa, OK) are joining efforts in a fundraising campaign for urgently needed repairs at both pools.
For more than 60 years, both pools have been operated on a volunteer basis and have been funded through a combination of membership fees and private contributions.
Both historic pools have critical needs. During the beginning phase of our joint fundraising campaign, we hope to raise enough funds to make repairs to the pool interiors, decks and mechanics. This will ensure the pools remain operational for many years to come.
In a later phase, we plan to address less urgent items focused on equipment modernization and aesthetic upgrades.
Both pools are located within the Lortondale I & II subdivision boundaries. However, they have been enjoyed by families all across midtown Tulsa for generations.
About the Lortondale Pools
Lortondale is a one of a kind neighborhood in Oklahoma, the first of its kind in the Midwest. Designed by architect Donald Honn and built by Howard Grubb, Lortondale has over 200 mid century modern style homes, with low pitched roofs and floor to ceiling living room windows and mahogany paneling, were built in midtown Tulsa between 1954 and 1957. The Lortondale housing tract development won many design awards in the mid 1950s. Lortondale homes have been featured in several national publications such as House and Home and Better Homes and Gardens magazines. The neighborhood is currently applying for recognition on the National Historic Register.
The Lortondale Club pool was built in 1956, and the 5300 Club pool followed shortly thereafter in 1958. When the pools were completed, they were two of the first neighborhood operated pools in the state of Oklahoma. Since their inception, the pools have been maintained by nonprofit corporations with volunteer residents serving on their respective boards.
Over the past 65 years, hundreds of local kids have learned to swim at our Lortondale pools. For some neighborhood kids, their first job was as a lifeguard at the 5300 Club or Lortondale Club. In the 1960s and 1970s, famed artist Alexandre Hogue and TU art department head, Brad Place, held annual art shows at the Lortondale Club pool that are still talked about decades later.
From birthday parties to art shows to movie nights to 4th of July parties, so many Tulsa families have made lifelong memories at our neighborhood pools.
About the Pool Repairs
The Lortondale Club pool currently has a major leak that was discovered at the beginning of this year’s swimming season. The leak has caused the monthly water bills to triple. The leak repair will require removing and replacing a section of the concrete pool deck in order to repair the damaged return line.
The Lortondale Club pool interior also needs to be resurfaced. In 2019, the Tulsa Health Dept cited the deep end surface as a hazard and asked the board to repair it within 3 years or risk closure. The deep end has hundreds of pool patches from over many years, and there is significant delamination of plaster occurring in the deep end.
The 5300 Club pool needs to be resurfaced. It also has plaster delamination issues. The addition of plaster steps into the pool would allow more accessibility for patrons of all abilities.
The 5300 Club pool’s shade structure had to be torn down this past year due to significant rot, which had become a hazard to patrons. Funds will be used to build a new shade structure.
How You Can Help
Please donate to our fundraising campaign so that Tulsans can continue to enjoy our unique pools for many generations to come. Contributions of all sizes are welcome!
When you donate, we’d also love for you to share a specific memory you might have of either pool. Thank you!
