wading pool – the grove

At the turn of the 20th century, it was uncommon for working class citizens to have the luxury of bathing facilities in their own individual homes. The city sought to remedy this within Grove Park (located at 15th and Benton Boulevard), alongside an array of other amenities including baseball diamonds, pergolas and horseshoe-toss areas. Nothing overshadowed the public bath house and wading pool, however. It all began as a simple wading pool in 1911. In 1914, The Grove debuted a snazzy swimming pool, enclosed by four walls – but if one looked to the heavens, they’d find them beneath a ceiling-less sky. Also offered were clean restrooms and showers, tubs for the lucky ladies and even electric hair-dryers could be found in the bath house; the city spared no accommodation. Though the building no longer exists (it was razed in the 1960s), the memory lives on of the good ol’ days, when males and females were forced to use the swimming pool at separate times.