• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
    • Our Advertisers
  • Distribution Locations
  • Past Issues

The Denver North Star

Your Guide to Community, Politics, Arts and Culture in North Denver

Hot off the Presses!
Check out the Jan 15 – Feb 14 issue here.

Help Us Improve!

Take our community survey and help
guide the direction of the The Denver North Star!

 

  • Community
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Arts
  • Dining
  • Community Calendar
  • Become a Member

Berkeley Residents Hope to Restore Park Bathhouse

August 13, 2020 By Colin Suszynski Leave a Comment

In 1907 the Denver Parks Board beautified Berkeley Lake Park by removing swampy regions and seeding the area. The bathhouse first opened in summer of 1913. In order to bring attention to Berkeley Lake Park and the Bathhouse, residents participated in a swimming competition in the lake.

The Bathhouse at Berkeley Lake Park as it appeared in the early 1900s.
Photo courtesy of Historic Berkeley Regis

By the early 1950s, swimming in Denver lakes was prohibited due to polio outbreaks. By 1952, the Bathhouse was totally vacant and in the early 1970s a shuffleboard club primarily consisting of retired men requested to use the building as a meeting and competition location for their club. They were granted access and used the building until the mid 1970s when its appearance was altered and it became a storage and small office space for the Parks and Recreation Department.

Last fall, Historic Berkeley Regis introduced a proposal for the restoration and reactivation of the Berkeley Park Bathhouse in Berkeley Lake Park. The August 2019 proposal called for a restoration of the building to its early architectural presentation and allow the community to use the space for public events programming.

The 2004 Berkeley Neighborhood Master Plan also suggested the Bathhouse be restored. The Master Plan, which was a precursor to the current proposal, suggested that the historical location could serve as a space for “many different functions.”

Tom and Laurie Simmons of Front Range Research Associates are eager to see the recent proposal become a reality.

“That would be a great meeting place if it were fixed up,” said Laurie Simmons, “it’s difficult to find a place to hold more than a dozen people for a public meeting.”

The Berkeley Bathhouse as it appears today.

The two of them began their campaign for the restoration of the Bathhouse building at a Berkeley Regis United Neighbors Easter Egg Roll where they handed out fliers. Since then, they have also been organizing on facebook and social media. Tom Simmons said that they received “universal support” at events and online.

Cyndi Karvaski, a spokesperson for Denver Parks and Recreation, said that there is a study funded for 2021 to look into a potential renovation, adding that at this point the funding is for “a study only and not a design.”

Filed Under: Community

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive email updates about The Denver North Star, your new guide to community, politics, arts and culture in North Denver.

Community Events

The Denver North Star community calendar is coming back! We’ve updated our form to better accept physical and virtual events, as well as to collect additional information possible attendees would like to know.

Please use our new form to submit your event!

Jan 26 2021

Denver Families for Public Schools Virtual Enrollment Fairs

Jan 27 2021

Denver Families for Public Schools Virtual Enrollment Fairs

Jan 28 2021

Denver Families for Public Schools Virtual Enrollment Fairs

Feb 16 2021

Berkeley Regis United Neighbors (BRUN) Monthly Meeting

Mar 16 2021

Berkeley Regis United Neighbors (BRUN) Monthly Meeting

No event found!
Load More

Connect With Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Keep Up With Us

The Denver North Star

Recent Comments

  • Patrick O'Brien on Columbus Park Officially Renamed La Raza Park
  • Sharon Hassinger on 79 Reasons to Exercise Even if You Aren’t Feeling Resolved
  • Patrick O'Brien on More Than Names and Dates: Local Historians Build Community
  • Catherine O’Neill Thorn on More Than Names and Dates: Local Historians Build Community
  • Karen F Kalavity on More Than Names and Dates: Local Historians Build Community
  • Kathleen Cain on More Than Names and Dates: Local Historians Build Community
  • Lois Harvey on More Than Names and Dates: Local Historians Build Community

Our Columnists

  • Educator and mom Jill Carstens writes about parenting in her column, Letters from Miss Jill.
  • Librarian Hannah Evans discusses great reads in her Checking Out: Book Reviews column.
  • Dennis Gallagher tells all in his column, Shaping Our Future by Remembering Our Past.
  • Erika Taylor advocates for community wellness in her Taylored Fitness columns.
  • Kathryn White focuses on issues of interest to older adults in her column, The Gray Zone.
  • District 1 Community Resource Officer Bob Anderson focuses on public safety issues in his monthly column.

Our Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019

All Categories

  • Arts and Culture
  • Cannabis
  • Checking Out Book Reviews
  • Community
  • Community Voices
  • Coronavirus News
  • Denver North Star News
  • Dining
  • Editorial
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Featured
  • Globeville
  • Guest Column
  • Health
  • Legislature
  • Local Dining
  • Opinion
  • Parenting
  • Politics
  • Public Safety
  • Shaping Our Future by Remembering Our Past
  • Student Voices
  • Taylored Fitness
  • The Gray Zone
  • Transportation
  • Uncategorized

Copyright © 2021 · All Rights Reserved