Crystal Pool natatorium, 2035 2nd Ave at Lenora St, Seattle (CURTIS 456)

Crystal Pool Natatorium was a saltwater indoor swimming pool in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. It was eventually adapted for use as Bethel Temple. It was designed by B. Marcus Priteca 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

The complex was designed for C. D. Stimson by

Marcus Priteca Benjamin Marcus Priteca (23 December 1889 – 1 October 1971) was a Scottish architect. He is best known for designing theatres for Alexander Pantages. Early life Benjamin Marcus Priteca was born into a Jewish family in Glasgow on 23 December 18 ...

. Upon its debut, the

Italian Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought a ...

facility was described as having outdone the

Baths of Rome In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

. The total cost of its construction was approximately $200,000 (). It had arched steel

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

es and a glass roof. Its facade included

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta i ...

features and it had a dome. Water was pumped in from the

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

Elliott Bay Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is in the U.S. state of Washington, extending southeastward between West Point in the north and Alki Point in the south. Seattle was founded on this body of water in the 1850s ...

. The 260,000 gallon pool was heated. It was in the Belltown District.

History

In 1918, the pool's adjoining energy plant was converted from burning oil to burning a form of powdered coal. 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. It received the coal by truck, and was described as not having a "slag pit" for its byproducts. Klansmen at event at Crystal Pool, Seattle, March 23, 1923 (MOHAI 15391)

Klansmen at event at Crystal Pool, Seattle, March 23, 1923 (MOHAI 15391)

In February 1923 the Young Men's Republican Club of

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

organized a Lincoln Banquet at the Crystal Pool Auditorium. In March 23, 1923 the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Ca ...

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. The Klan event was one of several held around Washington in 1923 and 1924. In 1924, U. S. Navy swimmers from the battleships and competed at the pool. William H. Offler bought the building in 1944 and converted it into Bethel Temple, permanently covering the pool with flooring. The entrance was on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Lenora Street.

Boxing

Crystal Pool was also used as a venue for boxing matches. Wooden planks and flooring were placed to cover the pool. Boxer Leslie Earnest "Wildcat" Carter was photographed at the Crystal Pool. 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 where he established an athletic club. Hal Hoshino fought at the venue. Ken Overlin and Paul Delaney also fought at the venue.

Demolition and replacement

The building was razed on June 2003, and replaced with a 24-story condominium complex called Crystalla. Most of the original

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.

References

{{coord missing, Seattle Demolished buildings and structures in Washington (state) Swimming venues in the United States Tourist attractions in Seattle Sports venues completed in 1918 1918 establishments in Washington (state)