Municipal Swimming Pool

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. September 1936. The South Concho River had something to say, and San Angelo had no choice but to listen.

A devastating flood swept down that river and inundated much of the city — parks, property, the public swimming pool — gone or severely damaged, just like that. Nature doesn't negotiate. Now, San Angelo being San Angelo, folks started making plans.

Rebuild the parks, construct a new municipal swimming pool. Good plan. Sensible plan.

So they put it to the voters in 1937 — a bond election to finance the whole project. And the voters looked at that proposal and said... no thank you. Defeated.

Here's where the story gets interesting, though. Once it became clear that the federal government would step in — Works Progress Administration funds and labor, the whole arrangement — well, suddenly the mood in town shifted. They held a second bond election.

And this time it passed. By sixty-six votes. Sixty-six.

You want to talk about a margin, that right there is a margin. Somebody probably called in a few favors. Work on the project began in March of 1938 and was completed in October.

Then they held opening ceremonies on April 29th, 1939, and San Angelo showed up ready. In just the first two days of operation, that pool hosted seven hundred and ninety-five swimmers. The people had spoken — turns out they were always in favor of swimming, they just needed a little federal persuasion on the financing.

The pool itself was designed by John G. Becker, and what he gave San Angelo wasn't just a place to cool off — it was a Pueblo revival complex, built in stone. A two-story hexagonal structure at the center, flanked by one-story wings, exposed vigas placed symmetrically along the upper portion of those wings.

The whole thing reflects the construction and planning energy of the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s — that era when the federal government was out here building things meant to last. And it did last. Sixty-six votes and a river's worth of stubbornness, and San Angelo got something worth keeping.

What the marker says

In September 1936 a devastating flood swept down the South Concho River, inundating much of the city of San Angelo. Among the many properties lost or severely damaged were the city's parks and its public swimming pool. Plans were made to rebuild the parks and construct a new municipal swimming pool, but a bond election held in 1937 to finance the project was defeated by the voters. Once it was determined that the federal government would assist with Works Progress Administration funds and labor for the project, a new bond election was held and passed by sixty-six votes. Work on the project began in March 1938 and was completed in October. Opening ceremonies were held on April 29, 1939. During its first two days of operation, the pool hosted 795 swimmers. Designed by John G. Becker, the Pueblo revival complex features a two-story hexagonal stone structure flanked by one-story wings. Exposed vigas are symmetrically placed on the upper portion of the wings. The complex reflects the 1930's construction and planning activity of the Federal Works Progress Administration. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1989