The Plunge - Santa Cruz Boardwalk
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Place Location
Latitude: 36°57′51.133″N
Longitude: 122°1′12.586″W
| Address: | 400 Beach St |
| City: | Santa Cruz |
| State: | CA |
| Ceased to Exist: | 1963 |
| Location Type: | That's Entertainment |
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In the Beginning. . . when I was just a child, I took my Red Cross “Learn to Swim” lessons in the Plunge at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, where I was born. I would guess that most native Santa Cruzers over the age of 40 can also boast that they learned to swim there.
It seems like yesterday with my brothers and I running around the edge of the pool - and it was sooo big. I'd go to the dressing room to change into my swimsuit and get ready for the lessons, or just go swim. The water was so WARM - it was the greatest. My heart broke the first time I went back after they filled in the pool with concrete to make a PEE WEE golf. It was awful.
I remember my test of a dive off the high dive board and I landed on my butt. Oh, it hurt so much, and my dad stood there laughing at me :)
The Plunge closed in 1963, supposedly because of rising costs and declining interest in indoor swimming. The Plunge was no more. When I go back to the Boardwalk (a family must do on vacation time), it still saddens me to walk into the arcade to see what once was of the Plunge.
At one time, it was the state-of-the-art swimming attraction—a gigantic indoor pool filled daily with heated saltwater. The Plunge was built by local developer Fred Swanton as part of his dream of a “West Coast Coney Island.” In June 1907, one year after fire destroyed Swanton’s initial project at the site, the Plunge opened, at that time called the “Natatorium,” along with a new Santa Cruz Casino and Boardwalk.
The Plunge’s massive, heated saltwater pool was adorned with statuary of King Neptune and bathing cherubs. It was decorated inside and out with replicas of Grecian statuary. John McLaren, father of San Francisco’s famed Golden Gate Park, designed the site with scores of tropical plants hanging from 50-foot-high girders.
The huge pool’s two tanks operated independently with a combined capacity of 408,000 gallons of water; until 1920 they were drained and cleaned almost every night. The infamously chilly Pacific Ocean water was heated from its usual 50ish degrees up to 85 degrees and then pumped into the pool.
In 1943 the Plunge’s warm saltwater was used for therapy by the local Naval Convalescent Hospital that was located across the street at the Casa Del Rey Hotel. The Plunge also hosted 1,000 Fort Ord troops for special aquatic training before being shipped to South Pacific action.
During the Plunge’s lifespan well over 7 million people enjoyed its facilities. In its heyday in the 1920s some 2,500 people could use lockers and dressing rooms at one time, and thousands of towels and bathing suits were kept for rental.
It was a glorious time for us, gives me much happiness to remember the times we all had there. The times that so many families and children will always remember. Edit this Place
