PUEBLO, Colo. (KOAA) — Has the future of the Pueblo City Park Bathhouse been determined? This week, Pueblo City Council approved an application that would turn the bathhouse into a local historical landmark, but it will still need to go through multiple votes before it is finalized.
The bathhouse in City Park was built nearly 100 years ago. The group known as Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the sandstone building.
WPA provided jobs for people who assembled buildings all over the country and Pueblo. Besides the bathhouse, some of WPA’s other notable work include several buildings and horse stables at the Colorado State Fairgrounds.
“It was really a program that was substantially influential on our whole city, and I think that this building is just one example of that influence, I think we should do everything to preserve that,” said George Koncilja, a member of the group called “Friends of City Park.”
The group says the bathhouse should become a local historic landmark. This is the group's second try to make this happen.
“We’ve been through this before. We did earn the landmark designation last year. Unfortunately, we were vetoed,” said Koncilja.
As News5 has reported, last year Pueblo City Council approved the bathhouse to become a historical landmark. But days later, Pueblo's Mayor Heather Graham vetoed their decision, saying the building should be torn down and new bathrooms for the tennis courts should be built.
“The city... I think spent a little over $135,000 on project design and architecture work,” said Mayor Graham last September.
However, that project was later canceled because the city did not have enough funding for it, according to Mayor Graham.
Now, almost a year later, Friends of City Park are trying for a second time to get a historical landmark designation for the bathhouse.
“We're still involved. We have been here from the start, and we were encouraged to see that the city was open to bring this back on the table,” said Koncilja.
The process will take time. According to the city, landmark designation will have to be approved by the following:
- Historical Preservation Commission
- The Pueblo Planning and Zoning Commission
- Pueblo City Council
“We're happy to wait a little bit longer knowing that we will get to our ultimate goal of preserving this building,” said Koncilja.
Koncilja said if the landmark designation is approved, they will be able to apply for grant money to help fix up and make improvements to the bathhouse for future use, a project they have already raised nearly $100,000 for.
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