Algoma almost had Wisconsin’s first retractable roof building

ALGOMA – Had a citywide referendum passed in April 1962, Algoma — not Milwaukee with its American Family Field — would have had Wisconsin’s first facility with a retractable roof.

In 1962, Algoma citizens were asked to vote whether to issue $150,000 in bonds ($1.6 million today) to construct an indoor/outdoor swimming pool with a unique retractable roof. The facility would have been located on the south side of the Dug Out.

Edgar “Tiny” Nell, the director of parks and recreation, felt that such a facility was needed. All Algoma had at the time was the Perry Field wading pool, the deepest section of which was only five feet, or Lake Michigan, which wasn’t an attractive alternative because the water is cold during most of the summer months.

Sadly, the referendum was rejected by a nearly three-to-one margin (1,015-389). As a youngster one month shy of my 12th birthday, I was very disappointed. I was a few other things as well — shocked, devastated, stunned, appalled and crushed.

I decided to write a letter to the “Algoma Record-Herald,” our hometown weekly, to express my opinion. Before mailing the letter, I showed it to my classmates in Sister Frances Clare’s sixth grade class at St. Mary’s School. Some asked if they could also sign the letter. As word of the letter spread, my classmates were climbing over their desks to sign. My eight-year-old sister added her name and, for reasons unknown, was given the first position among the signees, a fact that she never let me forget.

In researching one of my books some 10 years ago, I discovered why the referendum likely failed. During the 1950s, Algoma voters had approved bond issues for a new hospital, a new fire station, a hospital expansion and an addition to the high school. Plus, parishioners at St. Mary’s and St. Paul’s contributed to the building of new Catholic and Lutheran grade schools during that period. So, maybe the voters were tapped out and viewed the swimming pool as a luxury rather than a necessity.

The defeat was a disappointment to Nell, who worked hard to get the measure approved. There were numerous full-page ads in the newspaper in the weeks preceding the referendum, including letters from former lifeguards urging its approval.

Following the defeat, Nell worked out a deal with General Mills in which the company agreed to fund the pool if Algoma could collect 30 million Betty Crocker coupons, which appeared on the company’s breakfast cereals, cake mixes and other products. Betty Crocker was the mythical spokesperson for General Mills. Although coupons were meant to be redeemed for silverware, General Mills agreed to redeem them for a swimming pool.

Accumulating that many coupons was a huge undertaking for Algoma. In a story in the August 22, 1963 edition of the “Record-Herald,” a headline proclaimed, “Only 29,975,000 to go!” The paper also reported the city had received coupons from other Wisconsin communities such as Sturgeon Bay, Green Bay, Appleton, Clintonville and Racine, as well as Seattle, Wash.; Rolling Meadows, Ill. and Iron Mountain, Mich.

The effort eventually died, particularly after Sturgeon Bay industrialist Fred Peterson announced that he would personally fund construction on an indoor swimming pool for his city.

Perhaps, if social media had existed back then, Algoma may have accumulated the necessary 30 million coupons. The city’s efforts may have even tugged at the heartstrings of people not only in this country, but around the world.