Whitevale Public Baths and Wash-house was opened on 17 May 1902 at 81 Whitevale Street by Lord Provost Samuel Chisholm. Unusually the facility included a reading room which was a branch of the city's Libraries Department. It was provided from funds left for the purpose in the will of John Rankine.
Whitevale also differed from other baths in the city in that it contained a Turkish bath and a gymnasium. There were sixty-six washing stalls in the wash-house, which could be hired for tuppence (less than 1p) per hour. There was seating for 520 people and standing room for 250 more in a gallery around the men's pool. Ingeniously, the swimming pool could be drained and lined with seating to convert the space into a rudimentary concert hall, increasing the capacity of the men's pool as a temporary public hall to 1,500 people.
Reference: D-BW 1/7
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
auditoria, concert halls, gymnasia, gymnasiums, Libraries Department, Lord Provosts, public health, public hygiene, reading rooms, staemies, Turkish baths, wash-houses, Whitevale Public Baths and Wash-house
You have 0 images in your photo album.
