The Sea Breeze Park Natatorium was a wonder in its day. Built in 1925, it was the world’s largest salt water swimming pool*, measuring 300 by 125 feet and holding over a million gallons of heated brine that could accommodate 6,000 people at a time. It was a marvel of engineering too: to keep the pool filled, Lake Ontario water was pumped up to a purification plant, forced through five filters, passed under three ultraviolet sterilizers, mixed with salt (100 tons per poolfull), and heated to 70 degrees. There was a shallow end for the timid, a deep end for the brave, and a brass band to entertain everyone. Magnificent as the Natatorium was, it lasted only six years.
Why didn’t this amazing attraction survive? The main cause seems to have been the Great Depression, which effectively killed what remained of the once thriving tourist trade that existed from Seabreeze to Manitou Point. The Natatorium shut down in 1931, and a bingo hall was later built over it.
Today, all we have are photographs and postcards+ … and one small bit of the pool itself to testify to its former glory. This cache will introduce you to the sad remains. Please leave them as you found them.
Also note the nearby Jack Rabbit, once the world's fastest roller coaster# And the Whispering Pines, the oldest remaining miniature golf course%
This cache was a pill bottle but seems to be a favorite for muggles and has had to be replaced several times. Any help you could provide in maintaining it would be appreciated. (The cache owner spends more time in Texas than Rochester.)
Park to the west of the coordinates. Physically not very demanding cache, but may require walking through tall weeds in late summer or deep snow in the winter.
* This link and this link describe the largest saltwalter swimming pool that exists today.
+ This link shows an old postcard view.
# This link tells about the Jack Rabbit, the oldest continuously operating roller coaster.
% This link tells about the Parkside Whispering Pines and the history of miniature golf.
This link describes the fight to prevent the demolition of the quite similar Waikiki Natatorium National War Memorial Pool in Honolulu.