Sellwood Outdoor Pool

Swim Pool (Outdoor)
Sellwood Pool
Outdoor pools are closed. Thank you for another great summer season! 
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American Rescue Plan (ARPA) Project  

The City received an American Rescue Plan (ARPA) grant to enhance park visitor and staff safety and protect park assets through improved security infrastructure at park maintenance and recreation facilities.

Using part of these funds, the chain link fence around Sellwood Pool will be replaced with fencing that will increase pool users’ security and safety. The project will also include two ADA accessible push-bar doors and a service gate installed along the new fence. Work will take place outside of the pool’s open season. Estimated work dates will be posted when the schedule is created.

There will be no disruption to pool use.

Year acquired
1929
Size in acres
0.00
History

This pool was built in 1910 as a replacement for the municipal bathhouse which had been at the foot of Jefferson Street. The Jefferson Street bathhouse had once been a floating structure with a slat bottom. It was closed due to increased pollution in the Willamette River. The Sellwood pool was the first structure of its kind in the city. It was a large wooden edifice with a ten-foot board fence around it to provide privacy: girls used the pool one day, boys the next. The pool has been in continuous use since 1910.

The Sellwood Natatorium (or Bathhouse), an arts and crafts style building, opened to the public in 1929 and still serves pool visitors today. In 1996, funds from the General Obligation Bond Initiative (GOBI) were used to reconstruct the pool and renovate the bathhouse. The bathhouse's lobby, restrooms, dressing areas, and showers received improvements. In 2016, the original 87-year old cedar shingle roof on the bathhouse was replaced with funding from the 2014 Parks Replacement Bond. Other improvements included new paint, seismic improvements, and brick repairs to allow this facility to serve pool users for decades to come. 

Accessibility Notes

All-User Changing Rooms
Sellwood Outdoor Pool facilities feature two all-user changing rooms.

Zero Depth Entry
Sellwood Outdoor Pool has a zero depth entry (sloped entrance from land to water). 
Pool-accessible wheelchair available for access to full pool. 

Park Location or Entrance

7951 SE 7th Avenue
Portland, OR 97202

Located within

Open hours

CLOSED

Park policy

  • All dogs must be leashed in this park.

Neighborhood

City section

SE