First in a series

The School District announcement that the storied and controversial Natatorium will be razed – finally – this summer stirred syrup-like sentiment in the bosom of Mike Eskridge.

A quarter-century ago his younger son Brian happily was learning the joys of swimming as a 4-year-old.

Mr. Eskridge held one view then, a different one today.

Brian was dripping with both enthusiasm and the friendly waters of the Natatorium when the thunderclap struck.

The Eskridges were stunned when the startling word came down from the School District offices on Irving Place.

In a day of widespread budget droughts, the two decades old Natatorium was going dark because it was too expensive to operate.

Hearts both wet and dry broke.

Mr. Eskridge, a member of the class of 1967 at Culver City High School, was in college when the Natatorium was birthed.

Twenty years on, he shared son Brian’s huge blot of sadness.

Dad had but one choice: Run for the 1992 School Board bearing torch for keeping the Natatorium open.

That Mr. Eskridge did not succeed now seems beside the point.

A fire, a love for the water, had been ignited in the heart of Brian.

Today at age 30, he is the male water polo coach and the aquatics coach at Santa Monica College.

No accident that an Eskridge landed at SMC

Said Brian’s father Mike: “His (maternal) grandfather, Archie Morrison, was vice president of Santa Monica College, and the track is named for him.”

(To be continued)