Island Park Pool and former Fargo Arena

The wall of the current Island park pool was built in 1937. It was originally built as a part of the winter sports arena that was built in the location of the current day pool. The arena was built as a part of the Works Progress administration to help create jobs during the Great Depression. It was sometimes referred to as the white elephant by locals. The original arena was too expensive to keep up so it was dismantled leaving only the wall. Another smaller arena was built using the same wall only to also be torn down in the 1970’s. Now the wall surrounds the current day swimming pool.

Sources:

1. Kerzman, Kris. “Throwback Thursday: A Brief History of Pools at Island Park.” InForum, May 28, 2015. http://www.inforum.com/news/3754712-throwback-thursday-brief-history-pools-island-park.
2. Look Around Downtown: Fargo Heritage Discovery Walk. 2007. https://www.cityoffargo.com/attachments/ddc76ad5-4743-4dea-b996-b9c21a07a46d/Walking%20Tour-final%20from%20Pierce.pdf.
3. Exterior: NDSU Archives 2113-19-1.