Return to McCarren Pool: More From Pool-Aid

As far as Gowanus Lounge is concerned, you can never have too much information about McCarren Pool. It's one of the places in Brooklyn about which we're a little obsessed. As you might recall, there has been no lack of discussion and controversy about the pool's future, particularly after the series of big shows produced by Live Nation were announced.

In any case, we hadn't heard much from Pool-Aid in a couple of weeks, so we went looking and found that their website is up and running. It has information about what they're doing and some very interesting photos and history about the pool. Pool-Aid is just one of many groups that have worked to try to bring the pool back as part of the community, including Park Moms, GWAPP, NAG, McCarren Park Conservancy and the Independent Friends of McCarren Park.

Pool-Aid's Manifesto:

• As long as the pool is a performance venue, it should showcase a diversity of cheap or free programming.
• We don’t want Live Nation swimming in our pool. They already have hundreds of venues they can hold profit-making concerts in: why do they need a public park? Let the other kids play.
• The community should control the pool, dealing with day-to-day operations and the long-term vision for the space.

Pool-Aid's Solutions:

• Ensure that Live Nation doesn't get an exclusive contract for the pool.
• Transfer the control of the pool to the neighborhood, book cheap or free programming reflective of our community in the space, and to gather community consensus to determine the long-term use of the space.

You can also contribute to Pool-Aid and get addresses and numbers to call and write about this historic pool's future. There are other groups doing a lot of heavy lifting trying to determine McCarren Pool's future, such as Independent Friends of McCarren Park, which are involved in this effort.

As for Pool-Aid, they're having, um, letter writing happy hours at Union Pool on Mondays and Pool-Aid Man made an appearance at Sunday's Pool Party at McCarren Pool.