Crystal Pool Natatorium was a saltwater indoor swimming pool in Seattle, Washington.[1][2][3] It was eventually adapted and became the building of the Bethel Temple Pentecostal Church. It was designed by B. Marcus Priteca[4] and built from 1915 to 1918. The pool was covered with boards and the venue used for boxing or roller skating.
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The building was later demolished in 2003 and replaced with a condominium complex called Crystalla.
Description
editThe complex was designed for C. D. Stimson by Marcus Priteca.[5][6] Upon its debut, the Italian Renaissance architecture facility was described as having outdone the Baths of Rome. The total cost of its construction was approximately $200,000 (equivalent to $5,600,000 in 2023).[5]
It had arched steel trusses and a glass roof.[7] Its facade included terracotta features and it had a dome.[8] Water was pumped in from the Puget Sound's Elliott Bay.[citation needed] The 260,000 gallon pool was heated.[9] It was in the Belltown District.[7]
History
editIn 1918, the pool's adjoining energy plant was converted from burning oil to burning a form of powdered coal.[10] A contemporaneous article in Electrical World magazine reported that it was to become the first of its kind (a small plant isolated from others) to transition to powdered coal.[10] It received the coal by truck, and was described as not having a "slag pit" for its byproducts.[11]
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In February 1923 the Young Men's Republican Club of King County organized a Lincoln Banquet at the Crystal Pool Auditorium.[12] In March 23, 1923 the Ku Klux Klan held a rally at the venue. At the time, Seattle was segregated with covenants to restrict where minorities could live and sundown restrictions kept them out of white neighborhoods after working hours.[13] The Klan event was one of several held around Washington in 1923 and 1924.[14][15]
In 1924, U. S. Navy swimmers from the battleships USS California and USS New Mexico competed at the pool.[16]
William H. Offler bought the building in 1944 and converted it into Bethel Temple, permanently covering the pool with flooring.[17] The entrance was on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Lenora Street.[1]
Boxing
editCrystal Pool was also used as a venue for boxing matches. Wooden planks and flooring were placed to cover the pool.[18] Boxer Leslie Earnest "Wildcat" Carter was photographed at the Crystal Pool.[19] A match between Tony Seeman and Abie Israel was held at Crystal Pool on December 17, 1930. Promoter Nate Druxman organized fights at the venue[20] where he established an athletic club.[21] Hal Hoshino fought at the venue.[22] Ken Overlin and Paul Delaney also fought at the venue.[23]
Demolition and replacement
edit
The building was razed in June 2003, and replaced with a 24-story condominium complex called Crystalla. Most of the original terracotta façade was preserved and rebuilt in place. A small glass dome calling back to the original one lost during the building's time as Bethel Temple was placed over the current building's corner entrance.[18]
References
edit- ^ a b "Crystal Pool Natatorium". HistoryLink Tours. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Larry, Kreisman (December 16, 1999). "Crystal Pool: A Unique Part Of Our Past". The Seattle Times.
- ^ Ruppenstein, Andrew (October 14, 2020). "Crystal Pool (1915–2004)". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Flom, Eric L. (December 12, 2008). "Priteca, B. Marcus (1889-1971)". HistoryLink. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
Priteca's work went beyond theaters, even from the beginning of his career. He designed Seattle's Crystal Pool (1914) at 2nd Avenue
- ^ a b "Seattle's New Natatorium". The Architect. 12 (5): 288–289. 1916 – via Arts & Architecture / University of Michigan Library.
- ^ "Architectural drawings of the Crystal Pool building, circa 1990s". Archives West. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ a b Humphrey, Clark (2007). Seattle's Belltown. Arcadia. p. 28. ISBN 9780738548166.
- ^ "Bethel Temple (Crystal Pool)". Puget Sound Pipeline. Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Allison, Ross (September 13, 2011). Spooked in Seattle: A Haunted Handbook. Clerisy Press. pp. 65–66. ISBN 9781578605019.
- ^ a b Macinnis, A. E. (May 18, 1918). "Experience with powdered coal". Electrical World. Vol. 71, no. 20. pp. 1032–1034 – via HathiTrust Digital Library.
- ^ "Powdered fuel tests". Power plant engineering. Vol. 22, no. 15. August 1, 1918. pp. 627–628 – via HathiTrust Digital Library.
- ^ Washington House of Representatives (1923). House Journal of the Legislature of the State of Washington. Public Printer. p. 59.
- ^ "Sundown towns - Washington State, Racial Restrictive Covenants Project Washington State". Civil Rights & Labor History Consortium. 2024.
- ^ "Klansmen at event at Crystal Pool, Seattle, March 23, 1923 (MOHAI 15388)". Museum of History & Industry. Seattle. March 23, 1923. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
- ^ Griffey, Trevor. "KKK Super Rallies in Washington State: 1923-24". Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project. University of Washington. Retrieved September 8, 2022 – via UW Departments Web Server.
- ^ Barrett, J.E. (1924). "Pacific Paragraphs". Our Navy. Vol. 17, no. 11. United States Navy (published October 1, 1924). p. 28 – via Google books.
- ^ "Crystal Pool Natatorium, Seattle, circa 1927". Museum of History & Industry. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
- ^ a b "Crystal Swimming Pool, Downtown, Seattle, WA (1915-1916) demolished". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. University of Washington. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
- ^ "P-I photos from the 1920s". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. December 31, 1975.
- ^ Eskenazi, David; Rudman, Steve (February 28, 2012). "Wayback Machine: Nate Druxman, Mr. Boxing". Sportspress Northwest.
- ^ "Nate Druxman Seattle boxing photograph and ephemera collection". Retrieved September 8, 2022 – via Archives West.
- ^ Lee, Shelley Sang-Hee (July 30, 2011). Claiming the Oriental Gateway: Prewar Seattle and Japanese America. Temple University Press. p. 160. ISBN 9781439902158 – via Google Books.
- ^ Walsh, Peter (July 30, 1993). Men of Steel: The Lives and Times of Boxing's Middleweight Champions. Robson. p. 100. ISBN 9780860518471 – via Google Books.