New York City waterways have long had a bad reputation; in some places even dunking a foot in the water seems a big enough risk to make for a game of Truth or Dare. Now, + Pool, the dauntless and brilliant crowd-sourced project that plans to install a movable, floating pool on the Hudson and East Rivers, has moved another step towards getting the public closer, and even into, purified New York City waters. After a successful funding program this summer, the team has resources for scale testing, and continues to acquire political support and expert design help. As reported in the Observer, the target is a summer 2016 opening.

In mid-July, + Pool reached (and exceeded) its $250,000 goal on Kickstarter to commence the first built phase of the project: Float Lab. The project’s “mini, temporary and floating science-lab version of the + Pool,” Float Lab is a small-scale model of the water-filtration system that will eventually be used in the full size + Pool. The larger filtration system for the pool is designed to filter over half a million gallons of water each day. Float Lab will also test out water quality across 19 different parameters to ensure that swimming water is clean free of contaminants from entering the pool water.

Designed by architect Dong-Ping Wong and designers Jeffrey Franklin and Archie Lee Coates IV, + Pool will be a 9,000 square foot pool shaped in the form of a cross, or plus sign. Each arm of the cross will be segregated for use as a children’s pool, a lap pool, a lounge pool or a sports pool.

The total cost of the project? $15 million dollars. But, the designers and architect of + Pool are using an innovative approach to fund the pool by giving the public a direct stake in the pool’s future. The 70,000 tiles that will cover the floor, walls and deck of the pool can be purchased at $25 a tile and will be completely funded by backers of the project. Some have asked whether cities can benefit from crowdfunded urbanism; the + Pool team seems to be in the process of answering the question definitively.

Launching the pool will represent a massive step forward in enjoying the New York City environment, including our once (and again) beautiful rivers, allowing the public to safely swim in Hudson and East River waters – a feat that hasn’t been deemed safe for the past 100 years. Check out a video here of the architects and designers behind the project to learn more, become involved or support the project.

Photo Credit: + Pool, Tile by Tile; Family and PlayLab