Baker Municipal Natatorium

The Baker Municipal Natatorium is significant to Baker as a component of the first major park development undertaken by the City following the First World War. It was among the largest brick buildings of its period in the region and was designed in a functional style with certain suggestions of the Jacobethan Revival by leading local architect M. P. White.

Michael P. White (1864-1929), the pioneer architect and builder of Baker, was a native of Cardiff, Wales. He was educated in Cardiff and in Liverpool, England before coming to Baker at the age of eighteen to join an older brother. The first city directory for Baker was a directory for nearly all of Eastern Oregon and was printed for the years 1899-1900. In it, M. P. White was listed as a contractor. Prior to that time, he is known to have operated a brickyard. Beginning in 1903, he was listed in the Baker City Directory as an architect.

In 1920, the year that the Natatorium was under construction, there were four architects listed in the Baker City Directory. In addition to White, they were H. W. Bond, E. A. Jerome, and R. G. Parker. Three of the local architects submitted plans for the Natatorium project, and R. P. Bailey, a Portland architect, also competed for the commission.

White is reported to have built the old high school building, now known as the Central School when he was twenty-four years of age. Subsequently, he designed and constructed a notable number of the city's important buildings. Among these were the first St. Elizabeth Hospital, the old St. Elizabeth Hospital (now a nursing home), St. Francis Cathedral, the Knights of Pythias Building, Bishop's Episcopal residence, North Baker School, the White Apartments, the Sonmer, Eagles and Shoemaker Buildings, Palmer Brothers Jewelry Store, Basche-Sage Hardware Company store, and many residences. All of the public buildings, with the exception of the original St. Elizabeth Hospital, are still in use.

Baker is a town of 9,500 population situated at the south end of the Powder River Valley. Historically, its economy has been based on mining, lumbering, and cattle. The Oregon Cattlemen's Association was organized in Baker, and its first president was William Pollman of Baker, who was honored by the naming of Geiser-Pollman Park. Once a small mining camp and stage station on the old Oregon Trail, Baker had developed into a modern city by 1900. It had become an important wholesale center in the Inland Empire, Salesmen made their headquarters there and traveled to and fro by narrow-gauge railroad, the Oregon Short Line Railroad, or by automobile. Eastern capitalists arrived by Union Pacific Railroad to inspect their investments. Cultural life was enhanced by literary societies and was reflected in the imposing Warshauer Hotel, an opera house, and many substantial residences.

On July 21, 1919, the City of Baker adopted Ordinance No. 1783, which provided for the acquisition of additional park and recreation grounds and specifically called for the construction of a municipal natatorium. The latter was to be supplied with naturally heated water diverted from nearby Samo Springs. Voters approved a special bond issue in 1920, and the facility was opened for use in 1921. An order for 275,000 bricks had been filled by the Eastern Oregon Brick Company of LaGrande in neighboring Union County.

The Olympic-size swimming pool of the Natatorium purportedly was the scene of Oregon's first water ballet. Hundreds of Baker citizens learned to swim during the American Red Cross classes held there. In addition to the swimming activities supervised by the pool manager and swim instructor Archie Murray, the Natatorium housed an annual auto show and dances. The traditional Winter Snowball was for many years the highlight of Baker's social calendar. Roller skating was permitted on the wide balcony surrounding the pool. In this way, the Natatorium operated as a primary recreation center in the community over a period of twenty years.

In 1941 the property was leased by the City to Baker Wood Products Corporation. The pool was filled in with a crushed rock, and the main space was used for the manufacture of truck bodies and ammunition boxes for the Armed Forces. A National Guard Unit was formed in Baker in September 1947, and the Natatorium became its drill facility in 1949. Night classes in woodworking and cabinet making were taught at the "Nat" by Glenn Wolfe and Harvey Witham for the benefit of servicemen returning from the Second World War in need of marketable skills.

In the Post War era, the Jaycees used the Natatorium as a meeting place and social hall. A livestock show for Juniors was regularly held there, and, subsequently, the City used the main floor for a garage & workshop, which contributed further to the building's deterioration. Periodically, land-use pressures caused talk of demolishing the building. Finally, however, in December 1972 the Baker County Court appointed a County Museum Commission to develop a feasible plan for the maintenance and operation of the unoccupied building. Clean-up projects by volunteers followed. More recently, interior post footings have been rebuilt and a new roof added. The city has leased the Natatorium to the Baker County Historical Society until January 1978, at which time it is expected that an acceptable adaptive reuse program will be ready for implementation.