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In 1883, the Town accepted the public statutes on public baths and at that year’s Town Meeting appropriated $3000 to erect and maintain a bathhouse which was opened in July of the following year on the north side of the Boylston Street School lot (now the Boylston Playground) next to what was then an open brook. The brook channel was deepened to make a swimming tank and the house itself was a modest structure built by the Town mechanics. During the first summer 3,800 baths were taken by the men and boys of the Town.
In 1887, an appropriation was made for plans and estimates for a new building. By 1895, this first bathhouse was found to be no longer adequate. $25, 00 was appropriated for a new building in 1896. The Selectmen appointed a Committee of 9 to oversee the care and management of the new facility. Town Meeting accepted a report to build a new bathhouse with two indoor tanks. Architect F. Joseph Untersee was chosen to design the new building which stood where the swimming pool now stands. The new building opened January 1, 1897 for citizens to inspect the appointments. The new bathhouse contained rain baths, tubs, a tank eighty feet by twenty-six which was lined with English white glazed brick, another tank twenty-two feet by ten feet, about fifty dressing rooms, a gallery, and a small laundry for towels and suits. The floor of the large pool had mosaic tiling and there were marble steps at each end. The interior had lettering on the walls including the vote of Town Meeting establishing the bath house, quotations from the poets, and the names of famous swimmers, including, Ulysses, Leander, Charlemagne, Nicolo of Cola, and Franklin. There was an exhibition of swimming exercises and polo. It is said to have been the first municipally operated indoor bathhouse/pool in the United States. Untersee designed renovations in 1899 in which three rooms were added, including a hair drying room for the women. The marble steps were removed in 1903 for safety reasons. The newly founded swimming club increased its membership and gave several exhibitions at the bathhouse. By 196, $15,600 was spent to renovate and improve the operation. Showerbaths were added in 1922. In 1929, free instructions in swimming and life saving were given. In 1949, a water pageant was held with the setting a Cape Cod fishing wharf. A group of anglers started a bait casting club which met on Thursday evenings from 9-10 p.m.
The new swimming pool was constructed in 1956 after the designs of Anderson, Beckwith and Haible. Dedicated in June of l958, the pool hosted its first meet on July 4th.
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