Engman Public Natatorium Engman Public Natatorium The Engman Public Natatorium was a public swimming pool that operated in South Bend, Indiana between 1922 and 1978. Sources describe it as being the largest indoor swimming pool in the state of Indiana when it first opened in 1922. The pool has a history of racial exclusion, barring African Americans completely between 1922 and 1936, then segregating against them (by day) between 1936 and 1950. In 2010, after sitting vacant since 1978, the building re-opened as the home of the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center. As of 2016, the Center continues to operate
Flushing Meadows Natatorium Architects). The 1939 and 1964 World’s Fair pavilions, which previously occupied the site, inspired the architects to design the canopy roof suspended above the natatorium and rink. The World’s Fair was a universal exposition showcasing various cultural exhibitions from all over the world. World’s fairs have become historic markers exemplifying commercial and industrial successes of various eras. The organizers of the 1939 World’s Fair boasted it was “the greatest exhibition ever held.” They referred to its vast size, the attractive symbolism of the Trylon and Perisphere, and most all for imagining a future after a decade of economic depression. Known