The Bronx's only indoor public pool has a new deck, a new lobby greets visitors at the door, and an accessible elevator finally connects every floor of St. Mary's Recreation Center in Mott Haven — a facility that spent years closed behind construction fencing while neighborhood families waited. News 12 got an exclusive sneak peek inside the newly renovated building, capturing the finished product just ahead of the center's 75th anniversary.
The reopening caps a renovation that started in early 2022 with an initial 18-month timeline, but stretched on for years after crews discovered asbestos, severe structural decay, and drainage failures inside the aging building, according to News 12. Those setbacks pushed the reopening date back repeatedly; a May 2024 CBS News report said the Parks Department then expected completion in April 2025. The project includes a modernized lobby and new ADA-compliant elevator access.
Beyond the physical upgrades, the city has funded 33 new staff jobs tied to the reopened center, per News 12's reporting. That staffing boost, paired with the finished construction, signals the city is treating this reopening as a full relaunch rather than a partial patch job.
Years of Waiting Took a Toll on the Neighborhood
The extended closure wasn't just an inconvenience — it left a real gap in Mott Haven's youth services. Local parents and Community Board 1 representatives repeatedly raised concerns that area children lacked safe indoor recreation options while the center sat dark, even as open drug activity and needle litter flared in nearby St. Mary's Park, the same CBS News report notes.
Those safety concerns around the park have persisted well beyond the recreation center's construction delays. In May 2025, New York City deployed mobile harm-reduction vans to St. Mary's Park as part of a pay-for-syringe redemption pilot, offering collectors up to $10 daily to help reduce public needle litter, according to Hoodline. The park has also seen recent violent incidents nearby, underscoring why residents have been eager for the center's programming and staff presence to return.
A Facility Built to Be First
St. Mary's Recreation Center carries outsized historical weight for a neighborhood gym and pool. When it opened on March 30, 1951, under Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, it became New York City's first full-service indoor recreation facility, serving as the prototype for eight subsequent municipal centers built across the five boroughs, according to NYC Parks. Demand was so intense on opening day that overcrowding sparked a youth riot outside the building, smashing windows and prompting Moses to raise membership fees just to control attendance, the agency's records show.
The center has been the subject of city investment before. In May 2012, it became the city's first municipal recreation building to undergo a $1.38 million green retrofit under PlaNYC, per NYC Parks. NYC Parks also notes that the building has a 2,000-square-foot green roof.
The surrounding 35.3-acre St. Mary's Park has its own layered history, originally settled in the 17th century by Jonas Bronck and later owned by members of the Gouverneur Morris family, U.S. Constitution signers, before the city purchased the land between 1888 and 1890 under the New Parks Act, according to NYC Parks records.
What Reopening Means for Local Families
For Mott Haven households, the practical draw is access. Annual memberships at NYC Parks recreation centers with indoor pools are entirely free for youth and young adults aged 24 and under, while standard adult memberships run $150 a year, per NYC Parks. With the Bronx's only indoor pool back in operation and a new deck installed, that free youth access could matter most for the families who spent years without a nearby indoor option.
The renovation arrives just ahead of the center's 75th anniversary, giving Mott Haven a milestone moment to pair with the reopening. After years of delayed timelines and a neighborhood that watched safety concerns mount in the park outside, the finished lobby, elevator, and pool deck represent a long-promised return rather than just another construction update.
