SAMUELL GRAND BATHHOUSE

Preservation Dallas awarded the Samuell Grand Regional Aquatics Center historic bathhouse a Preservation Achievement Award in 2020. The Samuell Grand pool and bathhouse had a rocky start when federal government permission was necessary for its construction in 1952 during the Korean War while the use of steel was restricted. Architect George E. Christensen of the Dallas firm Christensen and Christensen was the architects. The brothers designed schools, residences, churches such as the Preston Hollow Methodist Church, and several buildings at the Dallas Zoo, among other buildings. Having been built at the time of racial integration in the City of Dallas, the Samuell Grand Pool (as well as others built during that time) was built with minimum dressing facilities to try to lower the risk of racial tensions at integrated city properties. This also gave the pool a more neighborhood feel and was intended to discourage people from outside of the immediate surrounding neighborhoods from using the pool. The Samuell Grand Pool opened on Friday, August 22, 1953 and included two low diving boards and one high diving board, a bathhouse with ticketing, small changing and restroom facilities, and ample room for sunbathing on the roof deck of the bathhouse, accessed by a dramatic curved staircase, which gave the facility a cool, resort –like vibe.

To meet the needs of the Dallas Park and Recreation Department for a regional aquatics center, a much larger bathhouse was needed, so McCoy Collaborative opted not to replace the historic bathhouse with a larger new one, but to reuse the old one and build a new one nearby, that could work in tandem with the historic facility. Retaining this historic structure helps make a connection to the historic roots of Samuell Grand park and provides the new Aquatics Center with a unique facility with mid-century style.

To attend the awards event visit https://www.preservationdallas.org/events.