Sunday, August 29, 2010

Union Park Now: The Children's Wading Pool 4

The Children's Wading Pool today, Union Park, Dubuque, IAThis is a photo of the wading pool as it appeared in the Fall of 2008. The cement work is actually in very good condition although it's difficult to see with all the mud. This photo is taken facing towards the entrance of the park. As you can see the water stagnates in the pool. There is a small trench or crack in the upper left hand side of the pool; the trench was put in to drain the water. The plumbing is still intact, but is plugged up.

The dirt is encroaching on the top of the cement and covering it up. If it is not cleared soon, plants will start to grow and the pool will deteriorate even more. You can already see that happening on the lower left hand side of this photo. Hopefully, someone will clean up the debris one day.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Union Park Now: The Children's Wading Pool 3

The Wading Pool Today, Union Park, Dubuque, IAHere's another view of the Wading Pool taken during the summer of 2003. Note the tree at the end of the pool where the picnic pavilion once stood. Also, a crack in the wading pool is visible on the right-hand side; the idea was to drain the standing water in the pool. However, as you can see, water still accumulates there. Additionally, the pool is often caked in mud during different seasons.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

The Children's Playground, Union Park, postcard 5

The Children's Playground, Union Park, Dubuque, IAThe Pagoda or picnic pavilion in this scene was located at the west end of the Wading Pool; it replaced the benches that were visible in a previous post. I'm still researching the construction of this pavilion. From the clothing of the young woman and children, this postcard appears to have been taken after 1910. The set of swings were there before the pavilion was built.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Union Park Now: The Children's Wading Pool 1

The Wading Pool today, Union Park, Dubuque, IAThis photo was taken at a similar angle to the image in the previous post. The Death Pavilion and the sand pits are long gone, but you can still see the swimming pool in the background.