Bathhouse Row Adaptive Use Program – The Hale Bathhouse: Technical Report 3

National Park Service

Hot Springs National Park was once known as Hot Springs Reservation. It was set aside in 1832 to protect the Park's primary resource, the hot springs.This type of Reservation was an early version of the National Park idea.Hot Springs was actually the first area in the United States to be set aside for its natural features.After Yellowstone was formed in 1872, Hot Springs was managed with it. In 1916 the National Park Service was formed and in 1921, Hot Springs Reservation changed its name to Hot Springs National Park, making it the 18th National Park in the Service. This report is number three in a series of seven technical reports prepared by the NPS Denver Service Center to provide technical information for use in the development of proposals by prospective lessees or concessioners and in the evaluation of proposals by the National Park Service. The reports describe the Bathhouse Row landscape and structures and provide detailed information on historical development, significance, and present conditions of the landscape and each vacant bathhouse. This report concerns the Hale Bathhouse. The Hale Bathhouse is a two-story structure with a basement containing 12,000 square feet of space. Originally designed in the Classical Revival style, the Hale Bathhouse was later remodeled in a handsome Spanish Revival style (see figures 1, 2, and 3). The facade is treated with an arcuated series of windows, pilasters with capitals, and a cornice. On both floors the fenestration is used to suggest arcades of piers with capitals. Over the entrance there is a double curved parapet with the name of the bathhouse. On either side of the entrance are small windows barred by handsome wrought-iron grilles. The entrance arcade forms a sun room where guests could relax. An attractive great-hipped roof of red tile crowns the building. The Hale is one of the most structurally sound bathhouses. Although its walls are stuccoed brick, the floors are spanned with steel. An interesting technique used in the construction of the Hale was the brick vaulting used in the basement as a form into which the concrete was poured for the floor above. In other words, the original first floor structure and basement ceiling has steel beams with shallow brick vaults between them, held in place by steel tension bars; the whole assembly is covered with a concrete topping. Part of the second floor is constructed of wood framing and the remainder is steel girders and wood floor joists.

Bathhouse Row Adaptive Use Program – The Hale Bathhouse: Technical Report 3

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