Queen City Pool and Pool House, Historic pool and transportation museum in Tuscaloosa, United States
Queen City Pool is a circular concrete bathhouse in Tuscaloosa designed by architect Don Buel Schuyler, with an Art Deco fountain marking the entrance. The building measures about 75 feet across and served as a public swimming facility before being repurposed to house cultural institutions.
Designed by Don Buel Schuyler, a Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice, the pool opened in 1943 as a Civil Works Administration and Works Progress Administration relief project. It was the whites-only counterpart to the city's Gulf States Pool and closed in 1966 when desegregation was mandated. The bathhouse reopened on December 13, 2011 as the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum, which closed on July 1, 2024.
The name Queen City was Tuscaloosa's own nickname, not a reference to a queen. The pool was the whites-only counterpart to the Gulf States Pool during segregation, and it closed in 1966 when desegregation was mandated. Since August 2024 the former bathhouse has been the second location of the Kentuck Art Center, whose main headquarters is in Northport.
The site is undergoing renovations beginning in 2024, so visitors should check ahead for current access and hours before planning a visit. The building's central location in Tuscaloosa makes it easy to reach, and local visitor information can provide updates on reopening and the new programming.
Between 2012 and 2015, the former swimming basin was transformed each winter into an ice rink as part of the annual riverside holiday celebrations, drawing families from the area. This seasonal use showed how the building could adapt to different purposes and highlighted its importance to community events.
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