Encyclopedia Dubuque
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SWIMMING POOL: Difference between revisions
(New page: SWIMMING POOL. Municipally owned recreation facility. Dubuque's first municipally operated swimming pool, built in 1915 along the eastern side of Elm Street between 14th and 15th [[STREETS...) |
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Six years after its construction, the pool was filled with dirt and the site was made a salvage yard. In 1922 the city garage was erected on the site after the croquet and tennis courts at the south end of the block-long area were removed. | Six years after its construction, the pool was filled with dirt and the site was made a salvage yard. In 1922 the city garage was erected on the site after the croquet and tennis courts at the south end of the block-long area were removed. | ||
Dubuque residents cooled themselves for the next fifteen years by swimming in the [[MISSISSIPPI RIVER]] at city maintained beaches south of [[EAGLE POINT]]. By the mid-1930s interest in a pool again rose. The Municipal Pool was opened to the public in 1937. Renovations to the [[FLORA PARK]] pool were begun in 1990. | [[Image:swimming.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Municipal beaches south of Eagle Point. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding]]Dubuque residents cooled themselves for the next fifteen years by swimming in the [[MISSISSIPPI RIVER]] at city maintained beaches south of [[EAGLE POINT]]. By the mid-1930s interest in a pool again rose. The Municipal Pool was opened to the public in 1937. Renovations to the [[FLORA PARK]] pool were begun in 1990. | ||
Revision as of 20:45, 14 September 2008
SWIMMING POOL. Municipally owned recreation facility. Dubuque's first municipally operated swimming pool, built in 1915 along the eastern side of Elm Street between 14th and 15th STREETS, was never officially opened.
Although filled, no city agency wanted to be responsible for the cost of the water. In 1917 when city officials expressed a desire to construct dressing rooms, citizens rejected the $9,500 bond issue by a vote of 3,200 to 2,340.
The 60- by 130-foot pool was named "So-and So's Folly" or occasionally after one of the Dubuque Board of Aldermen who spearheaded the project. Problems started almost immediately after construction. Operators of the pool found it was difficult to drain because the area's water table, prior to the lock and dam, was much higher. The argument over the cost of the water was carried on between the Board of Aldermen who thought it should be free and the Board of Water Commissioners who believed the water should carry a price.
Six years after its construction, the pool was filled with dirt and the site was made a salvage yard. In 1922 the city garage was erected on the site after the croquet and tennis courts at the south end of the block-long area were removed.
Dubuque residents cooled themselves for the next fifteen years by swimming in the MISSISSIPPI RIVER at city maintained beaches south of EAGLE POINT. By the mid-1930s interest in a pool again rose. The Municipal Pool was opened to the public in 1937. Renovations to the FLORA PARK pool were begun in 1990.