The Aquatic Fitness Center in Northeast Philadelphia was crippled by a large fire Monday morning. According to a report from NBC Philadelphia, patrons of the facility were seen racing out of the building into cold weather wearing just their bathing suits.
The report indicates that there were some 50 people in the building at the time the fire broke out, but it is believed that all individuals safelty made it outside.
Two were hospitalized after suffering from smoke inhalation. The fire did spread to surrounding streets but was eventually put out after more than 150 firefighters were called in. The blaze apparently started minutes after a witness saw contractors using a blow torch on the facility’s rough. (Read more from NBC Philadelphia here.)
The AFC claims that the indoor, 50-meter pool is the largest year-round facility in the Philadelphia area. The pool hosted numerous major competitions in the 1970s and 1980s.
The facility is closed while damages from the fire are repaired, but General Manager Eric Chernikovich promised that the location will re-open.
“The damage to the facility was severe and the Grant Ave. location will remain closed until further notice. We’re working now to assess the damage and determine our path forward, but we can assure you that we will rebuild the Northeast Philadelphia location,” Chernikovich wrote in a post on the company’s website.
Bruce Wigo, currently the President/CEO of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, swam at the facility growing up and was the club’s manager and head men’s coach at the pool from 1972 to 1973, but the venue’s history goes back even further.
As Wigo describes in the above video, the pool opened in 1963 as the home of the Philadelphia Aquatic Club. It was described in the Nov. 1964 issue of Swimming World.
“This pool is breathtaking. It’s huge—an Olympic size fifty-five yard, eight lane beauty with a magnificent plastic (polyvinyl chloride) dome-like roof which allows rays of light to penetrate and dip and dance on the smooth waters,” the article reads.
Back then, the pool’s bulkheads, gutter system, portable roof and even locker rooms were considered state-of-the-art and modern.
