![Eastern Promenade Pool in the 1960s](https://www.portlandoldport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1-1.jpg)
![Present Day Location of Eastern Promenade Pool](https://www.portlandoldport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2-1.jpg)
In the 1960s and into the mid to late 1970s, the Eastern Promenade featured a pool that has since been paved over and is now used as a parking lot for the public boat launch. Debie Ward shared a photo of this pool in the Portland Maine Encyclopedia of the 1960s, 70s, & 80s Facebook group, sparking a wave of nostalgia and stories from people who grew up visiting the pool next to East End Beach. The pool closed in the late 1970s, and some commenters fondly remembered using the empty pool for skateboarding and BMX biking well into the 1980s. While the exact reason for the pool’s closure remains unclear, it is likely that rising insurance costs for the city played a significant role in the decision.