Piedmont's New Pool Heads Into Its First Winter. What Changes When the Summer Crowds Leave?

On April 11, 2026, Mayor Betsy Smegal Andersen cut the ribbon at 777 Magnolia Avenue for the second time. Then the new pool staff finally got to work. As the Piedmont Exedra reported, the weather and the school district's spring break kept the crowd small that first Saturday. Through the end of April, anyone could swim for $5 a visit.

Two months later, the problem had flipped. By June, the Activity Pool had hit capacity on several days, and the city was reminding drop-in swimmers that passholders get priority when space runs short.

Both moments point to the same fact about the pool as it heads into its first fall. Its schedule is still being written. The city says openly that it is adjusting hours, lane setups, and access rules based on how people use the water. The fall calendar is the clearest view yet of that process: the pool time moves from one group to another in a series of dated handoffs.

Two Pools Running on Two Different Clocks

The facility is really two bodies of water with different jobs. The city's pool page describes the Settlemier Competition Pool as 12 lanes, 25 yards by 27 meters, with two diving boards. The Activity Pool is the warm-water side, with three lap lanes, a zero-depth entry, and water kept at 83 to 85°F all year. Around them are the Ellis Family Pavilion, a rooftop pavilion, and a community room you can rent.

That split matters most in fall, because youth sports claim the competition side. In its July schedule notice, the city said that from August 10 through October 30, the Competition Pool is reserved for water polo practice on weekday evenings and on Saturday mornings from 9 to 11 a.m. The Piedmont High School water polo team and the Piedmont Swim Team began their fall practice schedules in that window. Even so, the city says the Competition Pool still offers more than 61 hours of lap swim and 66 hours of recreational and open swim each week this season.

Home water polo games close the Competition Pool from 2 to 8 p.m. The Activity Pool stays open on its regular schedule, and spectators can watch the games by entering at the Magnolia Avenue gate.

The Fall Calendar, Date by Date

From October 1 through November 30, the pool is open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a midday closure from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to the city's fall 2026 activity guide. Within those hours, these are the dates that change things:

The Pumpkin Patch is the only one of these dates built for families. The rest shift who gets the water and when.

When Lap Swimmers Get the Evenings Back

The November 14 change is easy to miss and matters most to people who swim before or after work. Under the fall guide's lap swim schedule for the main pool through November 13, Monday lap swim ends at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday end at 6 p.m. Wednesday doesn't start until 8 a.m.

Starting November 14, lap swim runs 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. every weekday. Mondays gain two evening hours, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays gain one, and Wednesday mornings gain two early hours.

The two-week gap between the end of team practice on October 30 and the expanded lap hours on November 14 isn't explained in the documents we reviewed. The city points swimmers to piedmont.ca.gov/pool to confirm schedules before they come, because available lanes shift through the day.

What the Summer Taught the City

The fall hours are layered on top of decisions the city made in response to summer use. After the Activity Pool reached capacity in June, staff opened reserved access for up to 50 people starting June 20, during times that had been fully booked for lessons. It ran as a trial through July 23 and cost nothing beyond regular admission, according to the city's reserved swim notice.

In late August, the city opened a user survey asking about visit planning, hours and programming, comfort, and reserved Activity Pool access. It said it would weigh the answers alongside attendance and usage data. The survey was set to close September 30. A snapshot of the EngagePiedmont page showed 434 responses, 91 from registered users and 343 unregistered. The page said results would be posted after the survey closed, and we haven't found them published as of mid-October. Feedback has been specific. One reader comment under the Exedra's survey story mentioned too few benches and hooks in the men's locker room, a draft near one bench, and slippery wet floors.

The city has described the whole first season in plain terms:

"The first year of pool operations is a period of learning and adjustment. Staff are monitoring use patterns, exploring new approaches to balance access needs, and making operational decisions with several goals in mind: maximizing community access, balancing the needs of all user groups, and maintaining a financially sustainable operating model."

That line comes from the same July notice that set the water polo schedule. Its last goal, financial sustainability, explains the other big fall change.

The Numbers Behind the September Rate Change

On September 1, annual pass rates went up by about 10%, and drop-in rates stayed the same, according to the city's announcement. The current annual base rates in the adopted fee schedule:

• Adult: $980 resident, $1,372 non-resident
• Senior or youth: $735 resident, $1,029 non-resident
• Family: $1,471 resident, $2,059 non-resident, covering up to four people in one household with one or two adults
• Adult drop-in: $18 resident, $22 non-resident

At those rates, a resident adult annual pass costs about the same as 54 drop-in visits. Whether a pass makes sense comes down to how often someone swims, and the steadier year-round hours make frequent visits easier to plan.

The budget shows why the city is watching fees. The FY2026–27 adopted budget projects $2,065,300 in Aquatics Fund revenue against $2,457,432 in expenses, with a $400,000 General Fund subsidy. Those figures are forecasts made before the pool had any track record. We haven't found actual attendance, pass sales, or revenue results published since the April opening.

The capital side has its own history. The old pool closed during the 2020 COVID period, and in September 2020 the City Council decided to keep it closed, citing staffing problems, a broken heater, and leaks. Two months later, in November 2020, Measure UU passed with 68.47% of the vote, authorizing up to $19.5 million in general-obligation bonds for a replacement, as the Exedra's project history recounts. The city's budget now puts the total project cost at $34.9 million.

December Hasn't Been Posted Yet

The city calls the pool a year-round facility and keeps the Activity Pool at 83 to 85°F in every season. A malfunctioning heater was one of the reasons the council kept the old pool closed. The published hours, though, stop at November 30. The city's pool page lists November holiday hours and nothing for December, and we found no winter schedule or closure announcement.

The posted hours for Thanksgiving week don't line up either. The fall guide lists November 26 at 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and also lists a Thanksgiving closure dated November 25. Check the pool site before planning a holiday swim.

Closer at hand, the end of October gives a sense of the pool's place in the neighborhood. The Floating Pumpkin Patch is in the water on October 24. On Halloween, the pool closes at 5 p.m., an hour before Tricks & Treats starts at 6 p.m. at the Recreation Department, 358 Hillside Avenue. Down the street at 801 Magnolia Avenue, the Piedmont Center for the Arts has the Oakland Art Association's "Hopes and Dreams" show open on weekends through November 1. As of today, the pool schedule ends on November 30.

At Woehrle Real Estate and Development, we spend a lot of time inside buildings during their first year of use. That's when the real schedules, the problem spots, and the true costs show up, and new homes and renovated homes go through it too. If you're curious how a project like that, or the house you already own, would show up in today's Piedmont market, ask us What's My Home Worth? and we'll walk you through the numbers.