By Special Request- Bangor's First Swimming Pool

This beautiful art deco pool was one of the few above-ground municipal pools to be constructed in the country and like Nazareth's Borough Pool, it was built by the WPA from 1937 to 1939.  Though I was raised in Nazareth from birth, my mother and her family are from Bangor and this pool was a big part of their lives.  In fact, my great-grandfather, John I. Correll, was a Bangor Councilman at the time and Project Chairman of the pool's construction.  He also oversaw the development of Bangor Memorial Park around it.

Bangor's original pool was designed by Wesley Bintz of Lansing, MI.  Bintz created the concept of municipal above-ground pools with bath houses underneath the pool deck.  Over the course of his career, he designed a total of 128 of his above-ground masterpieces and boasted “A Bintz Pool is 25% to 40% cheaper to build than a sunken pool and bath house of equal size, performance, and details.”

When the citizens of Bangor decided to build a pool in 1936, they looked for someone to build it and price was a strong consideration with the great depression fresh in everybody's mind. Bintz's economically-minded sales tactic proved successful and he was chosen to design it. Construction on the pool was completed in time for the summer season of 1939 and it opened that year on May 27th to much fanfare.

The pool remained in operation for just over 50 years until 1990, when the borough decided not to open it to the public due to some serious structural deficiencies in the pool walls. Bangor Council hired a group to perform a feasibility study to help decide if the pool should be fixed or replaced.  The results were scrutinized and debated for six years until the pool was was finally demolished in fall of 1996. 

Construction on the new Bangor pool commenced immediately afterwards and in less than a year, it was opened to the public on June 23rd. A remanant of Bangor's first municipal pool still survives today, with the original entrance to the pool preserved and used as the entrance to today's modern bathhouse.

Incidentally, when the 1990 Bangor Council convened a study of whether to repair or replace the old pool, they solicited bids from different companies to do the work. One of the bidders was Ted Wallover of Wallover Associates, the same man who is leading the current redevelopment of the Nazareth Borough Pool. His bid was more than double that of the company they chose, Wade Associates.

From the Morning Call on July 24, 1990, "A joint committee from the park board and community development decided last night that Wade Associates of Harrisburg would be recommended for the evaluation at a price of $1,700.

Wayne W. Wade, owner of the firm, outlined what the evaluation would entail so the borough could make a decision on the pool's future.

Ted Wallover of Wallover Architects Inc., Lancaster, proposed a study to cost $4,535, while Charles R. Bauerlein of Recreation Consultants Inc., Springhouse, said his firm's initial pool evaluation would cost $3,800.

An Indianapolis, Ind. firm, Recreonics Corp., did not send a representative to outline its proposal but did say it would cost $5,075."