Lakeview Park Bath House Plans – Feb. 1919

In 2017, Lorain celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Lorain Lighthouse. Looks like 2019 might be the 100th anniversary of another Lorain landmark.

The article below from the Wednesday, Feb. 5, 1919 Lorain Times-Herald tells the story.

****

$25,000 BATHING BEACH OPEN TO PUBLIC IN JULY

The Lakeview Park bathing beach, equipped with a $25,000 bath house and dancing pavilion, will be thrown open to the public early in July, Walter A. Pillans, service director, announced today.

Plans for the improvement of Lakeview park are rapidly assuming definite shape and the construction of two jetties in the lake laying of drives and sidewalks and planting will be undertaken as soon as weather permits.

Council Monday night passed an ordinance providing for the issuing of $56,000 to improve the park.

The bath house and dancing pavilion will be a two story fire proof affair. The ground floor, which may be below the level of the ground, will be used as a bath house, and the second story for the dancing pavilion. It is planned to have a number of refreshment booths on the second floor.

According to present plans, a portion of the bath house will project out over the bank and will be held up by a huge supporting wall. The exact details, however, must be worked out by an architect.

The two jetties will extend 250 feet, out in the lake. The water at the northern end of the jetties will be about ten feet deep and will afford the better swimmers ample opportunity to exhibit their prowess, while nearer shore, the water is shallow.

The bathing beach, bath house and dancing pavilion, it is hoped, will be ready for use by July 4th.

A big drive, it is planned, will run from Erie-av to the bath house. Space near the bath house will be reserved for parking automobiles.

Sunken walk in the gully that now traverses the northern portion of the park is something that will be undertaken at a later time. In order to do this it will be necessary to divert the present course of the water. The expenditure involved in this project is too large to warrant its being done this year.

****

After the original bathhouse (except for its foundation) was destroyed in the 1924 tornado, two more bathhouses served Lakeview Park visitors, before the present structure was built.

I wrote about the first, second and third Lakeview Park bathhouses back in 2014. I also featured a 1916 article about the planning of Lakeview Park here, and a few photos of the bathhouse that Lorain Baby Boomers remember here.

****

UPDATE (Feb. 18, 2018)
I guess I spoke too soon about 2019 being the 100th anniversary of the original Lakeview Park bathhouse.

While searching microfilm for the actual opening of the bathhouse – originally planned for July 2019 – I found out that this was not the case. An August 23, 1919 article on the front page of the Lorain Times-Herald stated, “Materials for Lorain’s municipal bathhouse in Lakeview Park were being placed on the site for the new building today. Work will start as soon as possible.

“City officials have given up hope of opening the new bathhouse this year."