Crown City History I N C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H H O T E L D E L C O R O N A D O & C O R O N A D O H I S T O R I C A L A S S O C I AT I O N HOTEL DEL CORONADO
Taking the Plunge By GINA PETRONE, H E R I TA G E M A N A G E R HOTEL DEL CORONADO
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hen Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888, one of its most popular attractions was surf and still-water bathing. According to an 1889 brochure, “the temperature of the air and of the sea is about equal both in winter and summer; consequently there are extraordinary inducements for surf bathing all year round.” Originally a bathhouse had been built onto the hotel’s boathouse. By 1890, it was replaced just south of the hotel where the parking lot is now with a larger, more permanent version with high ceilings, windows and two saltwater swimming tanks with sloping cement bottoms. Called plunges, the cold tank was kept at about 70 degrees and the hot tank at about 84 degrees. The San Diego Union reported variations in temperatures on a daily basis. After Tent City opened in
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CROWN CITY MAGAZINE
Guests enjoy the warm bathhouse at the turn of the 20th century.
1900, an open-air, cement-lined swimming tank was added and dedicated “for the exclusive use of the little tots and ladies who are too timid for surf bathing.” For more experienced swimmers, floats with springboards and a high diving tower were placed in Glorietta Bay. A young man named George Griffiths came to work at Tent City in the 1920s and oversaw all water activities. He also performed in weekend water shows and entertained the crowds with his acrobatic high dives. In 1934, the old landmark bathhouse gave way to progress when The Del built its first oceanside swimming pool. Construction
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began in May, and a commemorative cornerstone, placed by Lillie Spreckels Wegeforth, daughter of longtime Del owner John D. Spreckels, was laid in June. By July, a growing anticipation for the new pool led to a rumor that a local man “took matters in his own hands and christened the pool quite early one morning last week by swimming au natural.” The new outdoor “Turquoise Pool,” was, like the bathhouse, filled with warmed ocean water. According to a 1959 publication, the pool could hold 200,000 gallons of seawater, which was pumped through filters from an adjoining well sunk down 250 feet. The pool was drained, cleaned and
