Property History
On July 2nd, 1931, South Park's main attraction was opened: the Corrigan Drive pool. It was designed by a Swiss architect by the name of Paul Riis and was built with a budget of $275,000. It was cleverly built to mimic the landscape of the surrounding terrain. Many large stones were used for both decorative and utilitarian purposes. Some of these stones weighed as much as five tons!
The complex consisted of three different pools: a large 375 ft x 150 ft and 3 ft deep pool, a 165 ft x 110 ft swimmers' pool which was four to ten feet deep, and a 60 ft x 40 ft wading pool. All the pools were built irregularly shaped. A half-acre sandy beach and a bathhouse were also constructed on the property.
Following its 1977 season, the Corrigan Drive pool closed permanently.
In the late 1940s and 1950s, African Americans held "wade-ins" at the Corrigan Drive Pool to protest Pittsburgh's Jim Crow policies and the fact that the pool was exclusively for white people.
Many black ministers supported these protests and police arrived on several occasions to prevent violence and make black swimmers feel unwelcome. At the time, there was a segregated pool located on One Hundred Acres Drive popularly known as "Sully's Pool".
Sully's pool was opened in 1938 and closed permanently in 1977.
"Sully's Pool"
The remnants of "Sully's Pool"
