History

The Fayette City Park Swimming Pool, in Fayette, Howard County, Missouri is a fine example of small scale Depression-era civic architecture. The pool was built to serve as a centerpiece in the development of Fayette’s first city park in 1936, and is significant as a long-lived recreational facility built by a partnership of public entities during the Great Depression. Although the initial park plans did not include a pool, the decision to build one was apparently made early in the process. The mayor of Fayette at the time, David C. Rogers, had just the week before served as the keynote speaker for the opening of a new pool in Slater, MO, and it was noted in the above article that a delegation from Fayette had also been invited to the opening of one in Higginsville a few days later. It is likely that those events encouraged Fayette leaders to add a pool to their plans for the new park as well.

Another deciding factor in the planning process appears to have been the availability of federal assistance with construction costs. Funding for the construction project came from the City of Fayette, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Howard County, and the state of Missouri. Depression era government aid programs were being widely utilized in Missouri at that time, on projects which ranged from hand dug ditches for water mains to skyscrapers for public offices. The WPA focused primarily on providing employment for workers who would otherwise be on the relief roles. By the fall of 1935, the construction of the pool had become an intricate part of the park project, and the WPA had committed to helping with the funding.

On November 15 of that year the local paper reported that forty men had started on the “park and swimming pool project, twenty on each job.” (An additional twenty men were put to work extending a nearby water main.) According to the paper, “Plans are to proceed at once with the building of the swimming pool. Blueprints will soon be submitted to the council for approval and the actual work begun.” A week later, the Board of Aldermen and other officials heard what the paper described as “an interesting and intelligent discussion of swimming pools,” by “nationally known swimming pool designer” Wesley Bintz of Lansing, Michigan. Bintz apparently made quite an impression, was hired that same evening, and the paper featured a long complimentary account of the presentation. The report included a fairly detailed discussion of the pool design and noted that the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, and the several visitors who heard the entire proceedings were elated over the fact that Mr. Bintz contacted the City of Fayette at such an appropriate time. His preparedness and experience assures that work can go forward as expected by the WPA. All were well pleased with the pool offered to Fayette. It appears that everyone involved was impressed with the above-ground design for the pool, which was said to make it much less expensive to construct than had been expected. Bintz was confident that he could stay within the approximately $16,000 budget set for the pool project, and still end up with a pool big enough to suit the needs of the community. The article noted that early estimates had rarely been less than $20,000, and that the PWA pool in Higginsville had run nearly $40,000. Even the pool in Slater, which was constructed of used materials, had cost around $12,000.
Wesley Bintz was an experienced pool designer who designed and supervised the construction of pools in several states. He later published a promotional booklet which included photographs of more than a dozen of his more notable above-ground pools, including the one in Fayette, as well several in other states. The City of Canton, Illinois had a Bintz pool very similar to the one in Fayette at one time; that structure was demolished in 1992. In addition to reducing costs in general, the above-ground design eliminated the need of “an unsightly fence around the pool,” and allowed attendants to service pipes and other systems from inside the bath house. The design also used less land and saved on excavation costs. Finally, the clients “got a really beautiful architectural structure, different from anything people around these parts have ever seen.

Bintz not only designed the Fayette pool, he also played an active role in its construction. His contract with the city required construction supervision as well as building plans, and he was required to make at least eight trips to Fayette while the pool was under construction. Board of Aldermen meeting records from that period show that he took that responsibility seriously. He appeared before them at least six different times to update them on the project and discuss various technical issues. He participated in discussions of everything from filter systems and locker selections to wall treatments and other design issues. He also attended at least one of those meeting to discuss the construction of the “head house” or entrance hall of the building, which was not included in the original plan. One month after Bintz was hired, he appeared with representatives from the Howard County chapters of the Daughters of The American Revolution and the American Legion to present plans for the entrance hall, which the local groups wanted designated as a memorial for those who served in World War I. Bintz had plans and cost estimates ready for that meeting, and the Board approved the addition the same night. Bintz estimated it would add about $2,300. He was very close; later records show that the final figure came in at $2,380.16. The D.A.R. and American Legion arranged for the Howard County Court to pay for the add on with money from a fund which had been established by state law in 1919 to finance war memorials in each county. The state law which created the fund did so in “appreciation of the services rendered by the citizen soldiery of Missouri in the war against Germany and her allies.” The act allowed for the exact nature of the monument to be determined by the appropriate county court or municipality. Once an appropriate monument was identified, the local group was to raise at least $250 in matching funds before applying for state aid. It is not clear who put up the matching funds in this case, as the newspaper articles infer that all of the money came from the county court. The more than 15 year lag-time between the passage of the law and the Fayette project was not all that unusual; a 1925 survey of projects completed under that law identified only 16 cased in which the fund had been utilized. The memorial plans called for the second floor of the entrance hall to contain commemorative tablets, presumably in the niches that are built into the walls there. Those niches are empty today, but there is a large bronze plaque still in the ground floor entrance room which commemorates area soldiers who served in “the Great War.” The plaque is not permanently affixed, and appears to have been originally mounted elsewhere, presumably on the second floor. The addition of the head house was the last change in the plans, and work progressed smoothly throughout the first half of 1936.

The city hired Fayette resident M. A. Sheets to serve as the foreman for the project, and a government engineer was appointed to supervise the work for the WPA. Mr. Morris Phillips, who worked briefly on the pool in 1936, remembers Sheets, and described him as the “ramrod” of the project. Sheets was apparently one of the more experienced construction professionals on the job, with the bulk of the labor being provided by relatively inexperienced WPA workers. He served as the foreman throughout the project, and even stayed on for awhile as the park manager after the construction was finished. Although the local paper and minutes from the Board of Aldermen meetings indicate that the City had trouble finding other skilled workers for the construction project, they were able to hire a good brick mason. The Aldermen hired Andrew Gantner to serve as chief brick mason on the project in December of 1935, at the same meeting in which they decided on the use of brick for exterior sheathing. Gantner received 75 cents an hour for his work, a sum which put him at a higher rate of pay than even Mr. Sheets. They were not as lucky with carpenters; a late newspaper article noted that only one carpenter was doing finish work on the pool, as the “City has tried to employ additional carpenters without success.” Board of Aldermen minutes from that period also record that Bintz had requested more skilled workers earlier that same month.

The shortage of skilled workmen notwithstanding, the design and final form of the pool reflected many of the latest trends and developments in pool design. Bintz was obviously aware of recommended standards and design issues, which included such things as locker room layout and general principals of orientation, as well as the complex engineering principals related to any type of pool construction. It should also be noted that the Fayette pool was built relatively early in the history of modern pool design. Although the existence of public baths or swimming pools goes all the way back to ancient times, the municipal swimming pool in America is a relatively recent development. Of the 8,000 pools in use in the United States in 1938, 80% were built after 1920 and more that 50% after 1925. The rise in popularity is closely linked to advancements in sanitation and filtration technology. The first American standards for pool sanitation were not developed until 1915, and it was the late 1920s before specialized pool filtration and sterilization equipment became widely available. City records show that Bintz played an active role in the selection of the pool filtration equipment, and that he carefully inspected it once it had been operating for a while. The equipment he selected was apparently of good quality, as much of it continues to be used today.

The pool opened for business on July 4, 1936, to instant popularity. Mr. Morris Phillips worked on the building and spent long hours swimming there once it opened, remembers that it was packed into the evening hours nearly every day that summer. The local paper reported that as many as 282 people used the facility on a single day, and that there were many days in which attendance topped 200. From an article which ran on August 7th: This record of attendance shows that the pool is well liked. Everyone who has gone has found it a fine pool with good water and the appearance is certainly a credit to the community. Many say it is the most beautiful swimming pool they have ever seen and visitors are envious of Fayette, wishing they had as fine a place to swim and find relaxation from excessive heat.

It appears that the pool is one of few surviving Bintz patented above-ground pools in the Midwest. The newspaper article which covered the demolition of its twin in Canton, Illinois referred to that one as “one-of-a-kind,” and noted that it was “believed to be the last of its type in the Midwest” The Illinois pool was obviously not the last of its kind. The Fayette pool is a rare survivor. It remains an important part of the community, and reflects both the popular architectural styling of its day and the long years in which it played an important role in the social history of the community.

Architecturally, the building is distinguished by Art Deco styling, as well as its unusual above-ground pool design. The design of the pool was executed by Wesley Bintz, a civic engineer from Lansing, Michigan, who used his patented “Bintz Pool” design for the Fayette pool. The facility opened on July 4, 1936, and remains in use in its original function. The building exhibits a very high level of integrity, and has seen no major alterations since the time of its construction. It is significant for its long contribution to the social and recreational history of the community, and as a rare intact example of Art Deco architecture in Fayette. The building is a commemorative property, although not exclusively so; the entrance hall was built to serve as a World War One memorial.

The pool is located in the northwest part of Fayette. It sits just a few hundred feet south of the intersection of Park Road and Besgrove St, in the Fayette City Park, which was created at the same time as the pool. It is an Art Deco style building which was opened for use in 1936. The building has polychromatic brick walls and ornamental poured concrete railings. The pool itself sits above ground; the locker rooms wrap around the exterior of the pool at the ground level, with the roof of the locker rooms serving as the sun deck for the pool. The sun deck is made of concrete and surrounded by grooved concrete and pipe rail balustrades. Several of the exterior balusters of the sundeck are topped with tapered concrete light standards. There is a two story entrance hall on the north end of the building which contains the main entrance and reception area. A poured concrete sign bearing the words “Fayette City Park Swimming Pool” runs along the facade just above the front doors. The building features multi-light metal windows throughout, and all exterior walls are built of buff and red bricks. The women’s locker room is on the east side of the building and the men’s in on the west. Public rooms are located near the entrance on the north, and mechanical systems are at the south end of the building. The pool today appears much as it did on opening day; neither the building nor the site has seen any significant changes, and the pool exhibits a high degree of integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. The pool building is a roughly egg shaped, one story structure with a rectangular two story entrance hall on the north. The building has two toned brick walls and a concrete foundation: The entrance hall has a symmetrical facade, with a central entrance flanked by banks of large metal casement windows. The double doors of the entrance are sheltered by a flat semicircular canopy of concrete which has scalloped edges. The wide concrete nameplate spans the space between the first and second floors. The second floor has three large sets of casement windows, and an ornamental flag pole and base are centered along the top wall. The corners of the two story part of the building are accented with heavy square piers, between which are set small rectangular windows. Vertical bands of buff brick accent the piers, which are topped with flat concrete caps. Molded square concrete insets add variety of texture and color in several locations. There is a large bronze plaque next to the front door which gives information about the pool building project. It reads:

FAYETTE CITY PARK
SWIMMING POOL
FAYETTE, MISSOURI
DANIEL C. ROGERS, MAYOR
BOARD OF ALDERMEN
KM. HACKLEY
I. E SCHNELL
W. GRAY BROWN
EZ.LOGGET
V. W. PHILLIPS
THOS. F. HOWARD
M.D. SETTLE, CITY CLERK
C.D. SLACLE, CITY ENGINEER
BUILT BY
CITY OF FAYETTE
& WORKS PROGRESS ADMIN.
M.A. SHEETS, SUPT. CONST.
WESLEY BINTZ
CONSULTING ENGINEER, CIVIL
SWIMMING POOL DESIGNS
“BINTZ POOL” PAT. NO. 1,572,563
LANSING, MICHIGAN
1936

The main entrance to the building opens onto a small entrance lobby, which contains a reception area, stairs to the second floor, and doorways into the locker rooms. The reception area has a counter for pool attendants and small storage areas. The second floor of the entrance structure provides access to the pool deck for non-swimmers. It contains a single open room with large casement windows overlooking the pool and park, and doors which lead to the pool deck. A second set of stairs leads up to a rooftop observation deck. The walls of the second floor room are all faced with buff brick, and there are several niches in the walls which are topped with segmental brickwork arches. Swimmers enter the pool through the locker rooms. The locker room entrances are on either side of the reception desk. From there swimmers pass dressing, showering and restroom areas to reach stairs at the south end of the building which lead to the pool deck. The men’s locker room is very open, with simple rows of benches, while the women’s area has some individual dressing stalls. A small square trench runs the length of each locker room, presumably to drain excess water. It appears that the trench was originally topped with a grate, which is now missing. Poured concrete footbaths are located at the bases of the steps to the pool deck. A rectangular extension along the south wall of the building houses the mechanical equipment for the pool. Interior finishes throughout the building are relatively sparse. Floors and ceilings, as well as some walls, are of unfinished concrete, and the locker rooms have modest wooden benches and stall dividers. Most of the simple original light fixtures remain in place, several with globes intact. The surface of the exterior walls of the locker rooms is more ornamental; a simpler version of the polychrome brick pattern found on the outside of the walls is repeated within. The pool deck is distinguished by grooved concrete balusters which echo the graceful curve of the pool and locker room walls. One set of balustrades runs along the exterior of the building, while a second set divides what was originally an observation area from the main deck. The exterior balustrades have matching grooved concrete horizontal bars, and every third post is topped by a light standard. The inside balustrade has vertical pipe rails between matching concrete posts. Similar piping is used for pool ladders and lifeguard stands. The pool itself is roughly egg shaped and painted white. It is approximately 60 feet wide by 90 feet long. The shallow end, which is on the south, is the widest part of the pool. The north wall of the pool, which is the only straight section of pool wall, has a small diving board set to one side. The pool originally had a high dive and slide. There is also a small rectangular wading pool at the south end of the deck, over the area occupied by mechanical systems. The wading pool is surrounded by a concrete and pipe rail balustrade which matches the others.