Exposition Park International Community Center

The Los Angeles Swim Stadium gained international prominence during the 1932 Olympic Games, when Los Angeles hosted a festive summer competition despite the Depression and rising political tension, and swimmers including Clarence "Buster" Crabbe, Eleanor Holm, Helene Madison, and a dominant Japanese men's team made history in the pool. Opening ceremonies at the nearby Coliseum launched the games with band music, cannon fire, and Vice President Charles Curtis, while at the stadium records fell and future film connections emerged through figures such as Crabbe, Johnny Weissmuller, Eleanor Holm, Glenn Morris, and later Esther Williams, who performed there in 1938 and broke a national record in the same pool a year later. After the games, the stadium opened to the public, became a center of Los Angeles-area swimming achievement, and from its opening until 1970 saw 65 world records, later serving as home pool for the University of Southern California under coach Peter Daland and for international meets sponsored by the Southern California Swimming Association. Aging by the 1970s, renovated in 1984 for Olympic water polo training, and closed after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the historic 1932 structure was ultimately reborn as the Exposition Park Intergenerational Community Center, combining the restored original facade with a modern complex that provides senior, child-care, recreation, fitness, basketball, and competition swimming facilities.

Los Angeles, California · United States