Whatever Happened to Julia’s Pool Windows?
By Daniella Thompson

From the earliest days of our clubhouse, the swimming pool has been the building’s focal center. Even before construction began, it was most dominant in the minds of members and potential members, who flooded the club with questions and requests. Opened to great acclaim in November 1930, the pool was an immediate success, its beauty attracting swimmers of all ages. The inaugural issue of the Record, published
that November, lauded the pool’s notable features, including the “beautifully designed windows on the east side, giving almost the feeling of out-doors.”

As designed by Miss Morgan, the pool windows were set with diamond-paned leaded glass, as are most windows in the club’s public rooms. Club chronicler Dr. Sarah Gill relates that removing moist air from the space was a problem from the first, as the ventilation provided by a row of small openable windows above the tall arched east windows proved inadequate.

In its early decades, the pool served the public at large. The 1950s were probably the pool’s heyday, with daily swimming lessons for children and adults. Countless Berkeley residents are still remembering fondly their early swimming experiences in this pool. Club swimmers won trophies in numerous championships, and synchronized swimming was equally popular.

While the swimming program was a success, moisture was eroding the infrastructure. In the late 1950s or early ’60s, the club’s general manager received a letter from the City of Berkeley’s Director of Public Health, Dr. Alvin R. Leonard, listing problems found in the “structural facilities of the pool building.” One of the items on the list stated, “Some windows have panes which are cracked and broken and at one location ivy from the
outside is growing in. Window frames are rusty and mildewed.”

If something was done at that time to repair the windows, the record has yet to be found. Regardless, the problem persisted into the 1970s, when discussions about the windows kept appearing in the Board of Directors’ agendas. In December 1978, one action item was “Replace cracked windows in pool pavilion.” An undated memo in the 1975–1979 agendas folder noted that “The metal window sash is rusting out” and suggested, “Consider changing all glass or at least that glass at the north end of the pool to clear wire glass to create a new and glamorous indoor-outdoor effect.” The latter recommendation appears to indicate that the leaded glass might have already been replaced with translucent wire glass.

In April 1980, the Executive Committee authorized a certain Mr. Gammon to repair the pool windows for $2,400. This was done, as a month later it was reported that “There have been complaints about the temperature of the pool area since the windows have been repaired.”

The next phase in the windows’ saga occurred about 1996, when a scene for Robin Williams’s film Patch Adams was filmed in the pool, and the production replaced the wire glass in the large north window with clear glass.

In 1999, two club members, the architects Witold and Norma Willer, sponsored the restoration of the northwest window with leaded glass, following Julia Morgan’s plans. The most recent window project, initiated by the Conservancy, took place in 2018, when Susan Wagner Design restored the triple windows overlooking the pool from the Loggia. Our next goal is restoring all the windows except the one restored in 1999. This will be costly, as the rusted metal frames are embedded in the concrete.

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YOU can help the Conservancy with this important restoration effort by donating now, buying tickets to the upcoming Silent Auction and Dinner event on October 15th and participating in both the Auction and the Raffle. Your generosity ensures that generations to come will be able to enjoy Miss Morgan's remarkable designs.

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Painting: "Schnabel-Monteaux (sic) SF c 1933" (SF Symphony)