Gateway Swim And Skate Rink At 8510 South Main St.

[Native Son]

much thanks, by my day...mid to late 60's the skating rink was an indoor pool, and Gateway , as I recall had a rat infested field between the pool and the bowling alley, no hills....I like the post card, but can't believe that no one in this town has a single picture of Gateway

Edited May 17, 2008 by Native Son

[Hunter]

Well cameras were kind of big and clunky back then.

[Cajun Cutie]

Gateway Pool - I had drawn upon my memory bank about this today with a co-workers young son and thought I would look it up online to see if anyone else had though about this placed ever....how funny to find this site and you guys bringing it up recently! Wow I was a lil' kid when it was forced to close by the city, and local human rights groups. We use to beg our parents to drop us off there. 1st you had to pass thru those galvanized turnstiles bars that crossed like fingers to ensure everyone passing through had paid, and to keep others out, it had a girls and a boys locker room. The "Bubble" was only a far away vision for me, as my lungs weren't able to hold air long enough to try and swim to the bottom like the older kids! In the picture, I don't see the tall metal "water" slide, which was my favorite part of going there, or the buoy thingie which was in the middle of the deep end; the boys loved swinging from side to side, dipping their heads into the water. So this must have been a concept photo, and not a reality drawing, like the other member had said. Actually my parents still live in the neighborhood behind where it stood, which are the fields in the background. The old guy who owned it said he would fill the pool up with cement rather than allow anyone (he did not approve of) to enter. Which he did, and it stood closed and fenced off for a number of years. There was an article in the Chronicle about the whole thing, I can remember that. He was very prejudice, such a shame....it was a very cool pool! They played Summer time music on that old jukebox, such a blast to people watch there, boys watching the girls, and vice-versa!! That photo was very cool, pretty much as I remember it!! And yes, much too early for Kodak pocket cameras - lol!! Thanks so much for the memories!!

Edited June 10, 2008 by Cajun Cutie

[NenaE]

Gateway Skate was a huge roller rink in the late 50s. The floors were polished oak which is why they wouldn't let you bring your metal skates. Giant mirrored ball which was lit during the "All Skate".

I think it was wishful thinking about the proximity to Kelly's, but it made me think about where all the addresses in Houston are based - Number 1 Main Street, the M&M Building. The first building in the US that was accessible from trains, boats, cars, horseback, and air. The 8510 S. Main address on the Gateway postcard is further from M&M than the 3512 address on the Kelly's card (where do you guys find this stuff?!). Sometimes knowing this helps with placing addresses in Houston. I remember meeting the wife of the Kelly's owner at one of the Medical Center hospitals in the late 50s - he was dying. I'm not sure how long after that the three locations had disappeared. Outrageous good steaks!

"I used to know a guy who told me that swimming pools in Houston have a chemical added to the water that turns a dark purple color whenever someone urinates. " My chemical would make their suits dissolve.

Does anyone know where this Gateway would have been located, by landmarks from past or present? I know the street well, but not by addresses. "8510 S. Main"... in/outside of the loop 610? Can't believe I never heard of this place.

[57Tbird]

Does anyone know where this Gateway would have been located, by landmarks from past or present? I know the street well, but not by addresses. "8510 S. Main"... in/outside of the loop 610? Can't believe I never heard of this place.

It was on the west side of S. Main, approx where OST intersects.

[NenaE]

It was on the west side of S. Main, approx where OST intersects.

Thanks, 57Tbird, so basically it was where the SuperTarget is now.

[houpro]

a great thread !

going back to the first posting in this thread about what we called the "bubble":

"I remember going to the bottom of the Crystal Pool and entering the air dome made by a B17 plastic canopy. The canopy was chained to the bottom of the pool and air was pumped in from the bottom. The canopy trapped the air and floated about 3 feet off the bottom."

could someone explain more about how it all worked, and about what a B17 canopy is, and how one

could breathe under there -- for the non techical types ? I can't understand how if someone could

get into it, then how could the air remain there ?

I've wondered about how it all worked for so many years - never had the guts to even try to swim

down to it myself and over the years its become one of those unexplained mysteries of childhood;

maybe it would be better to let it be but after seeing this thread, got curious about it again.

I do remember the skating rink - lots of fun, hokey pokey, bunny hop, and the birtthday party

room that could be rented out.

good comments about the postcard and the "hills" ; I don't recall even the pool area looking

anything like the postcard but then the card doesn't show all the kids running around and hanging out.

the tall floating pole I recall was called the "Bobber" and I think you could climb up to the top

of it and swing back and forth on it.

In the mid eighties I drove over there and walked towards the back of what had been the parking lot and discovered the pool was still there; I remember a big metal structure floating in the water and am guessing

it was the Bobber. I tried to see if the bubble was still there but as per my comments in this post,

really didn't know what I was looking for and perhaps it was still there under the deep end.

thanks again for the memories.

[Native Son]

a great thread !

going back to the first posting in this thread about what we called the "bubble":

"I remember going to the bottom of the Crystal Pool and entering the air dome made by a B17 plastic canopy. The canopy was chained to the bottom of the pool and air was pumped in from the bottom. The canopy trapped the air and floated about 3 feet off the bottom."

could someone explain more about how it all worked, and about what a B17 canopy is, and how one

could breathe under there -- for the non techical types ? I can't understand how if someone could

get into it, then how could the air remain there ?

I've wondered about how it all worked for so many years - never had the guts to even try to swim

down to it myself and over the years its become one of those unexplained mysteries of childhood;

maybe it would be better to let it be but after seeing this thread, got curious about it again.

I do remember the skating rink - lots of fun, hokey pokey, bunny hop, and the birtthday party

room that could be rented out.

good comments about the postcard and the "hills" ; I don't recall even the pool area looking

anything like the postcard but then the card doesn't show all the kids running around and hanging out.

the tall floating pole I recall was called the "Bobber" and I think you could climb up to the top

of it and swing back and forth on it.

In the mid eighties I drove over there and walked towards the back of what had been the parking lot and discovered the pool was still there; I remember a big metal structure floating in the water and am guessing

it was the Bobber. I tried to see if the bubble was still there but as per my comments in this post,

really didn't know what I was looking for and perhaps it was still there under the deep end.

thanks again for the memories.

the bubble was a Plexiglas canopy which was chained to the bottom of the deep end at 4 anchor points. A pump blew air through a hole in the bottom of the pool. the air stream was regulated so the air captured under the canopy was forced out by new air, therefore it did not become stagnant.

My older brother swears he has some old 8mm reels that relatives from NYC took at Gateway in the late 50's. I have yet to see the films. Like you, I have very fond memories of Gateway, tetherball, zinc oxcide on my nose, burgers and soft serve from the concession stand, and the Archies on the juke box...man, oh man..."Sugar, Sugar" I can almost smell the place now

[WestUNative]

Most kids couldn't afford the skates that were used on the wood floors of the roller rinks, so they were rented as were ice skates at the ice skating rinks. The roller skates had four wide hard rubber or urethane wheels on them.

I find ads in my wife's and my old high school and college yearbooks. Lots of advertising in the back of those. That's where I found the Kelley's ad I posted earlier.

57Tbird, weren't we all so envious of those great shoe skates, so glamorous? At home we struggled mightily with our clamp-on, metal clumsies, which frequently fell loose from our shoes and twisted an ankle or plopped you down on the sidewalk. My fam didn't take us much to Gateway Skate, but lots of kids had their birthday parties there, always a treat. The rink seems so huge and usually so crowded, a bit daunting. Big, noisy place, but fun.

Knew about the pool, but never went there. We had West U., Southside and the Shamrock, didn't need to go far afield.

[houpro]

the bubble was a Plexiglas canopy which was chained to the bottom of the deep end at 4 anchor points. A pump blew air through a hole in the bottom of the pool. the air stream was regulated so the air captured under the canopy was forced out by new air, therefore it did not become stagnant.

My older brother swears he has some old 8mm reels that relatives from NYC took at Gateway in the late 50's. I have yet to see the films. Like you, I have very fond memories of Gateway, tetherball, zinc oxcide on my nose, burgers and soft serve from the concession stand, and the Archies on the juke box...man, oh man..."Sugar, Sugar" I can almost smell the place now

Thanks for the info - I knew I should'a paid more attention to the Mr. Wizard shows since he probably

talked about this -- what I don't understand is that since under the plastic canopy, where the air was being pumped in, there was still water also -- thus how could people breathe the air being pumped in without getting the water in their mouths ? Or did the air push out the water so that there was an air pocket ?

speaking of smells of the pool area, I'm remembering suddenly the smell of the rink; not the greatest smell

but probably due to so many people sweating and the building itself being hot too since I think it was made

of galvanized metal; I think it had these big fans in the windows trying to circulate the air and always

tried to rest near one of those windows.

[Native Son]

Thanks for the info - I knew I should'a paid more attention to the Mr. Wizard shows since he probably

talked about this -- what I don't understand is that since under the plastic canopy, where the air was being pumped in, there was still water also -- thus how could people breathe the air being pumped in without getting the water in their mouths ? Or did the air push out the water so that there was an air pocket ?

speaking of smells of the pool area, I'm remembering suddenly the smell of the rink; not the greatest smell

but probably due to so many people sweating and the building itself being hot too since I think it was made

of galvanized metal; I think it had these big fans in the windows trying to circulate the air and always

tried to rest near one of those windows.

the skating rink predates me by a few years, and I ain't all that young.... in my day the big metal building in the parking lot was the indoor pool. I used to have swimming parties in February when I was in elementery school....that was reall cool back in the day....I miss it, but it was something from a different time...

Edited June 22, 2008 by Native Son

[devonhart]

what I don't understand is that since under the plastic canopy, where the air was being pumped in, there was still water also -- thus how could people breathe the air being pumped in without getting the water in their mouths ? Or did the air push out the water so that there was an air pocket ?

There was an air pocket, you'd swim to the bottom, duck under the canopy and stand up and there was the air pocket. I can't quite remember where the air hose was. I do remember, if you had tooth decay the air pressure let you know pretty quick.

[Sparky]

At HAIF one need only ask.

Hi Subdude. Thanks for the memories. Crystal Pool was my home away from home growing up. It was built behind Gateway Roller Rink about a year after the rink was built. They were located behind "Bert Wheelers Liquer Store" on South Main where it intersected OST. If you were driving toward it from downtown Houston, you would have passed Stuarts Drive In, then Princes Drive In and turned right at Ben Wheelers. The "picture" is a pretty good rendtion of the pool: It was the second largest pool in Houston. The Shamrock pool was larger. I still have my last pair of skates that I bought from Les Oldfield who owned the rink and the pool. I am 73 now, so that would make them antiques. I grew up in Playland Park further down Main St. and used to walk to the rink and pool. My Mom and Dad built a home on Hatton Street in Knollwood which was the community of homes where the "rolling Hills" are shown in the picture. Do any of you remember the Old South Main Street Airport? It was located where you turned into Knollwood. Bringing back good old memories. Thanks a lot, Sparky

[jwphillips2]

It's amazing what happens to a post when you leave it for a while. Absolutely great comments! Good lesson for everyone. Revisit old posts and see what happened while you were gone. I love this place. Great collective memory.

[glzuma]

I remember going to Gateway. At that young age, it seemed to be a long, scary trip down to the bubble in the deep end. Probably still long and scary at this old age. Once there, you couldn't take the pressure to your ears very long.

Wasn't there a swimming pool similar to Gateway located on Long Point back in the 60s/70s?

[capt. kirk]

Does anyone know where this Gateway would have been located, by landmarks from past or present? I know the street well, but not by addresses. "8510 S. Main"... in/outside of the loop 610? Can't believe I never heard of this place.

just inside of 610, about 4 or 5 blocks, i think that there is hotel of some kind there now. the pool must have been filled in

[24zulu]

I remember going to the bottom of the Crystal Pool and entering the air dome made by a B17 plastic canopy. The canopy was chained to the bottom of the pool and air was pumped in from the bottom. The canopy trapped the air and floated about 3 feet off the bottom. I know Liability Lawyers would be break dancing to get a shot at that now!

Anyway, my question is "What is the name of the skating rink that was right next door on S. Main? ".

There were a couple of pools that had those underwater domes in that time period as I recall...may be mistaken. I only remember Gateway, but as I remember, Hotwells, out on the West side of town was another that had a big one. Loooong time ago.

[blue92]

Gateway pool opened in 1959 I was 10 at the time they had this huge grand opening and my parents bought me a season pass. Our house backed up close to it. I would ride my bike threw the vacant lot next to our house and it was just on the other side of Alamo Motel. I was brown as a beet for the next 2 summers. Our house backed up to Grace Courts which had been torn down years before our neighborhood was built and it was just a big vacant lot with big trees like an orchard, I went by there in 2000 and the sign for Grace Courts was still there. Fact it's still a vacant lot now you can see it on Google Earth.

The "bubble" was fed air from a big red hose that they dropped down in the deep end that was hooked up to a big air compressor that was housed in the store room that was behind the diving boards in the deep end. When they had swim meets there they would lay down a walkway that went half way across the pool that separated the shallow end and the deep end making it an Olympic size pool. I went to several diving competitions there too. I remember going down the big slide head 1st with my arms stretched out in front and gliding over half way across the pool.

The Shamrock pool was only an Olympic sized pool Gateway was a bigger pool. When they 1st opened they advertised Gateway to be the largest pool in Houston.

I went to grade school and 7th grade with the guys son that owned/built it and he was in our car pool. They also owned a Go-Cart track that was just the other side of Main St. @ OST. behind a Spanish Village restaurant. By the time they opened the go-cart track I was 12 and was more interested in go-carting than swimming. I used to work after school and Saturdays at the track helping get the other kids into the carts and pushing them off, that's how the carts were set up you pushed them to start running. They didn't pay me money they paid me in cart time. I also helped in the cart shop fetching tools. I guess that's where I got the bug to drive fast which I still do.

I wish the pics of the pool that were posted early in this thread were viewable. Could someone repost it?

[sevfiv]

Gateway was right about where the Target on S Main is now (the pool is pretty easy to spot in the old aerials) - Grace Courts was at 8900 Main which is the empty lot next to the car wash.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=205937566729555760537.00049d63df2f256a71c77&ll=29.681803,-95.442164&spn=0.107379,0.222988&t=h&z=13

[blue92]

Gateway was right about where the Target on S Main is now (the pool is pretty easy to spot in the old aerials) - Grace Courts was at 8900 Main which is the empty lot next to the car wash.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=205937566729555760537.00049d63df2f256a71c77&ll=29.681803,-95.442164&spn=0.107379,0.222988&t=h&z=13

The vacant lot to the left of Target and behind the storage place was where Gateway Swim was. The bunch of rectangle slabs to the left of the storage place was the old Alamo Motel. The house that's behind where Grace Courts was with the white roof and swimming pool wasn't built till 1976/77. It was a vacant lot when I lived in the house to the left of it when I were I grew up. Where Parkview Inn & suites is now used to be the Chief Motel, I and all my playmates used to clime threw our back fence and sneak into their swimming pool all the time.

Where Target is now used to be a 78 lane bowling alley. I think it was called Astro Lanes. They had like a 36 table pool hall in it, I played lot's of pool in that joint.

Edited September 4, 2011 by blue92

[sevfiv]

^Yeah, Stadium Bowl was there, inset quite a bit.

[blue92]

^Yeah, Stadium Bowl was there, inset quite a bit.

btw that google map you posted has the South Main Drive-in in the wrong location. The drive-in was in the location where Trans World Services is now. The drive-in was boarded by Stella Link on one side and the railroad tracks on the other side.

[NenaE]

I was noticing that the shape of the Gateway pool (I call it harp-shaped) was similar in shape to the Shamrock pool. I was trying to visually decide which one was bigger, was just looking at theold aerials, but read that blue92 said Gateway was much bigger. Must have been gigantic, since I know Shamrock's had ski boats in it.

BTW, I did believe you, blue92, but measured to see difference, just how much bigger, roughly (from aerial map ruler) Gateway was approximately 217' l by 141' (at widest point), Shamrock pool 154' l by 94' w.

Unique shapes.

Has anyone mentioned how deep both pools were? Know that Shamrock's had to be pretty deep, it had those diving towers.

Edited September 6, 2011 by NenaE

[Fringe]

The Shamrock pool was definitely deeper. I even took SCUBA lessons there as a kid. And those diving towers were huge. At least they seemed that way.

[blue92]

The Shamrock pool was definitely deeper. I even took SCUBA lessons there as a kid. And those diving towers were huge. At least they seemed that way.

Gateway was 15ft. deep don't know how deep Shamrock was. I went over the 1964 aerials Gateway was longer than Shamrock but Shamrock was wider in the shallow end.

Here's a pic I capped off the net that shows Gateway and the go-cart track that the owners of Gateway also owned. You can also see Stadium Bowl where the Target is now.

[NenaE]

Interesting, in an earlier post, the pool at Gateway is called the Crystal pool. Wait a minute, is that right? I just re-read the earlier posts, which one was the Crystal? I'm confused...

Edited September 8, 2011 by NenaE

[57Tbird]

I was noticing that the shape of the Gateway pool (I call it harp-shaped) was similar in shape to the Shamrock pool. I was trying to visually decide which one was bigger, was just looking at theold aerials, but read that blue92 said Gateway was much bigger. Must have been gigantic, since I know Shamrock's had ski boats in it.

BTW, I did believe you, blue92, but measured to see difference, just how much bigger, roughly (from aerial map ruler) Gateway was approximately 217' l by 141' (at widest point), Shamrock pool 154' l by 94' w.Unique shapes.

Has anyone mentioned how deep both pools were? Know that Shamrock's had to be pretty deep, it had those diving towers.

This description of the Shamrock pool from Wikipedia:

"To the south was the hotel's lavishly landscaped garden designed by Ralph Ellis Gunn, a terrace and an immense swimming pool measuring 165 by 142 feet (50 by 43 m) described as the world's biggest outdoor pool, which accommodated exhibition waterskiing and featured a 3 story-high diving platform with an open spiral staircase."

[blue92]

This description of the Shamrock pool from Wikipedia:

"To the south was the hotel's lavishly landscaped garden designed by Ralph Ellis Gunn, a terrace and an immense swimming pool measuring 165 by 142 feet (50 by 43 m) described as the world's biggest outdoor pool, which accommodated exhibition waterskiing and featured a 3 story-high diving platform with an open spiral staircase."

The Shamrock opened in 1949 Gateway opened in 1958. There would have been no problem with putting a boat in Gateway and watersking in it. At some point they may have.

Edited September 8, 2011 by blue92

[Fringe]

The Shamrock opened in 1949 Gateway opened in 1958. There would have been no problem with putting a boat in Gateway and watersking in it. At some point they may have.

They actually did that at the Shamrock.

link

[NenaE]

So which one was called the Crystal Pool?