Crystal Pool (Seattle)
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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.
The building was later demolished in 2003 and replaced with a condominium complex called Crystalla.
Description[edit]
The 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[edit]
In 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 keeping them out of white neighborhood after working hours.[better source needed] The Klan event was one of several held around Washington in 1923 and 1924.[13][14]
In 1924, U. S. Navy swimmers from the battleships USS California and USS New Mexico competed at the pool.[15]
William H. Offler bought the building in 1944 and converted it into Bethel Temple, permanently covering the pool with flooring.[16] The entrance was on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Lenora Street.[1]
Boxing[edit]
Crystal Pool was also used as a venue for boxing matches. Wooden planks and flooring were placed to cover the pool.[17] Boxer Leslie Earnest "Wildcat" Carter was photographed at the Crystal Pool.[18] 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[19] where he established an athletic club.[20] Hal Hoshino fought at the venue.[21] Ken Overlin and Paul Delaney also fought at the venue.[22]
Demolition and replacement[edit]
The building was razed on 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.[17]
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.
- ^ "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.