It was one of the most ornately decorated buildings of its time, until a severe thunderstorm blew part of the roof off.
Boise, Idaho —
The city of Boise is home to some unique geothermal features, particularly in the Boise Hills near the Old Idaho Penitentiary.
In 1891, Boise businessman C.W. Moore built a house on Warm Springs Avenue and decided to use the geothermal heat to heat his home and several businesses geothermally.
“He started a company called Boise Artisan Hot and Cold Water Supply Company,” said Maureen Lovell, historical programs manager for the City of Boise Department of Arts and History, “and they helped build this area as a way to showcase Boise’s geothermal resources.”
Moore decided to take it a step further.
That same year, he hired well-known German architect John C. Paulsen to construct what would become known as the Boise Swimming Pool.
“It was a two-story building, but it had six-story towers on either side of the front door. It had big arched windows,” Lovell said. “It was a very unique style of architecture compared to other homes I saw in Warm Springs. A lot of the homes were Queen Anne style, but this one stood out because it was so big and so ornate.”
It opened in May 1892 and featured a 120-foot-long geothermally heated pool.
“If you read an article about the natatorium in the Idaho Statesman, people are likening it to a Roman bathhouse and calling it the Taj Mahal of the West,” Lovell said. “They seem very excited about having a big, beautiful social space.”
What the people of Voisins needed at the time was a place to socialize.
“I think the community came together and worked together because they were looking forward to socializing,” Lovell said.
The natatorium offered more than just a swimming pool.
“There were billiard rooms, dice parlors, tea rooms and ball spaces where people could dance and socialise,” Lovell said. “Social standards were different then than they are now, so what entertainment was acceptable back then was very different, and the rooms were designed accordingly.”
Local residents have enjoyed their community space for nearly 50 years, but they quickly discovered that geothermal heat has its drawbacks, especially when it comes in contact with wood.
“According to the Idaho Statesman at the time, this pool was the second heated or geothermal pool in the country,” Lovell said. “It’s extremely hot, and it produces a lot of steam, and that steam rises and gets trapped inside this building.”
In 1934, a severe thunderstorm struck the Treasure Valley, causing the roof to collapse.
“It is believed that moisture within the pool room caused some of the wooden structure to rot and deteriorate, which then led to its collapse during the severe storm.”
People were still inside the building at the time, but had enough warning to get outside.
A few years later, the swimming pool was rebuilt as an outdoor pool.
The pool is now part of the City of Boise pool system (complete with hydrotubes) and will open for summer use on May 31st.
Although the pool is no longer indoors, it still uses geothermal energy to heat the water, just as it did when it was built.
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