Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium
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 Location in Indiana
Location in the United States
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| Location | One Marquette Dr., Marquette Park, Gary, Indiana |
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| Area | 6 acres (2.4 ha) |
| Built | 1921 |
| Architect | George Washington Maher |
| Architectural style | Prairie School, Classical Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 94001354 |
| Added to NRHP | November 25, 1994 |
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The Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium is a unique building located at Miller Beach in Marquette Park, Gary, Indiana. It was designed by the famous architect George Washington Maher and built in 1921. This special place is also known as the Lakefront Park Bathhouse or the Chanute Aquatorium.
On November 25, 1994, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's recognized as an important historical site. Today, the Aquatorium is a museum that celebrates flight. It honors two amazing groups: Octave Chanute, who helped invent gliders, and the Tuskegee Airmen, who were brave pilots.
When it was first built in 1921, the building was called the Lakefront Park Bathhouse. It was a place where people could shower, change, and use the restrooms. For many years, it was a very important spot for the Miller Beach community. This building is also special because it was one of the first to use a building method called "pre-cast concrete modular construction." This means most of the building was made from just six basic types of concrete blocks, like giant LEGOs! One of these was the "T-Block," which was an early version of the concrete blocks we see today.
By the 1960s, the building started to fall apart. In 1971, it was closed to everyone and boarded up. It looked like it might be torn down. But in 1991, a group called the Chanute Aquatorium Society saved it! They even made up the word "Aquatorium," which means "a place to view the water." They wanted a new name so people wouldn't just think of it as an old bathhouse.
From Bathhouse to Flight Museum
This building is no longer a place for changing or showering. Instead, it's now a museum dedicated to the history of flight.
Honoring Flight Pioneers
The museum celebrates Octave Chanute, who is sometimes called the "father of flight." Chanute did some of the very first glider flights right near this building, in the tall sand dunes. His successful experiments and glider designs were a big step. They helped the Wright brothers make their first powered flight at Kitty Hawk.
The Aquatorium also honors the Tuskegee Airmen. These brave African American pilots were pioneers in aviation. They helped lead the way for different groups of people to serve together in the armed forces. Many people have worked hard and raised a lot of money to restore and update this historic building.
Restoring a Landmark
Work to restore the Aquatorium began in the late 1990s. In 1998, some older parts of the building were removed. New sections were then built. In 1999, the cornerstone for "The Tuskegee Airmen Wing" of the museum was placed. This showed how important it was to honor these pilots. By 2000, major work on the second floor helped protect the museum spaces below from water.
See also
