The pool and bathhouse, along with the adjacent George Cromwell Center, were designed by Joseph L. Hautman during a Works Progress Administration project in 1935–1936.

It occupies a site bounded by Murray Hulbert Avenue to the east and southeast, Hannah Street to the south, a dead-end section of Victory Boulevard to the north, and the Staten Island Railway (SIR) to the west.

[4] A footbridge crosses the SIR line, connecting the pool complex's entrance with the main portion of Victory Boulevard to the west.

[9] The pool complex is one of eleven in New York City built in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal agency created to combat the Depression's negative effects as part of the New Deal.

[14] The north wing's northern elevation sits above a concrete water table and is divided vertically into sixteen bays, which are grouped in three sections.

[13] The eastern elevation is two bays wide and leads to a raised, enclosed concrete plaza at the same level as the pool deck.

The exterior of the rotunda contains two segmental arches, with recessed doors flanked by sidelights and topped by transom windows.

There is a metal sign above the doors, with the name "Joseph H. Lyons Pool", as well as lights and an alarm box on the facade.

Above the doorways is an upper clerestory level with tall, narrow segmentally arched openings; these contain aluminum sash windows.

The northwest corner of the rotunda contains a curved brick wall, which conceals a concrete stairway that, until the 1980s, was connected to a footbridge above the Staten Island Railway's Tompkinsville station.

The north wing's has two mechanical dormers that contain fan rooms, as well as a staircase leading to the overpass above the SIR line.

There are also some Belgian-block planting areas with oak trees; wooden benches upon concrete pedestals; a flagpole near the diving pool to the south; and some cast-concrete drinking fountains.

[23] When it was rebuilt in the 1980s, a new gutter and ladders, concrete ramp, and pipe railing were added, and the original lights were removed;[23] the modern pool is divided into 14 lanes.

[12] In 1934, Robert Moses was nominated by mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia to become commissioner of a unified New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

At the time, the United States was experiencing the Great Depression; immediately after La Guardia won the 1933 election, Moses began to write "a plan for putting 80,000 men to work on 1,700 relief projects".

Moses, along with architects Aymar Embury II and Gilmore David Clarke, created a common design for each of the 11 proposed aquatic centers.

Each location was to have distinct pools for diving, swimming, and wading; bleachers and viewing areas; and bathhouses with locker rooms that could be used as gymnasiums.

The pools were to have several common features, such as a minimum 55-yard (50 m) length, underwater lighting, heating, filtration, and low-cost construction materials.

To fit the requirement for cheap materials, each building would be built using elements of the Streamline Moderne and Classical architectural styles.

The proposed pool was relocated to Tompkinsville after Joseph A. Palma recommended that site, which was next to the Staten Island Railway and the under-construction George Cromwell Center[11] (the latter of which opened in 1935).

[71] The local chapter of the Police Athletic League of New York City began hosting meetings at the pool complex that year.

[72] NYC Parks announced plans to replace the pool's diesel pump in 1956, citing high costs and environmental concerns.

[73] In 1959, NYC Parks announced that it would spend $100,000 to replace the pool deck (which had become severely degraded) and install new gutters.

[58][94] In 1982, the NYC Parks budget increased greatly, enabling the agency to carry out $76 million worth of restoration projects by year's end.

[33][92] During the closure, a portable children's pool was placed on Hannah Street,[104] and city officials contemplated using the recreation center as a temporary homeless shelter.

[112] At a public hearing in April 1990, the office of borough president Guy V. Molinari supported the designations, but NYC Parks opposed landmark status because it would complicate the process of renovating the other pools.

[114] NYC Parks continued to face financial shortfalls in the 1990s, and the WPA pools retained a reputation for being unsafe.

[119][120] During this decade, The New York Times referred to the Lyons Pool as a "summer wonderland", although it was no longer free to enter, being open only to NYC Parks members.

[123] After the neighboring Cromwell Center was demolished in 2013, local politicians Michael McMahon and Debi Rose began advocating for the construction of a replacement structure, and NYC Parks was allocated $700,000 for a feasibility study of such a project.

[131] NYC Parks announced in January 2023 that the rotunda of Lyons Pool's bathhouse was to be renovated at a cost of $2.6 million; at the time, the project was slated to be completed in 2024.