Hugo Municipal Pool
Lincoln County
On September 2, 1935, the Town of Hugo submitted a Works Progress Administration project proposal for the construction of a “concrete swimming pool together with bathhouse, landscaping and grading and other necessary work to complete a City Park.” Actual construction began a year later. Work halted twice, once so the WPA crew could finish the Hugo gymnasium / auditorium project and again in July 1937 for the crew to mix and spread poison bait in the regional battle against grasshoppers. The still unfinished facility opened to the public on Saturday, June 18, 1938.
Hugo Municipal Pool (2007 photograph.)
The bathhouse is a good example of WPA Art Moderne design, typifying the modern styles that predominated projects in northeast Colorado. With walls constructed of adobe, the bathhouse mixes traditional construction techniques with modern design. The WPA used adobe construction on many projects as it was inexpensive, but labor intensive, fitting with the WPA’s unemployment relief mission by minimizing spending on materials and maximizing spending on labor. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources on Colorado’s Eastern Plains Multiple Property Submission.