each evening, saw Lorena, astride her horse, dive off a specially built platform into a canvas-lined tank 30 to 50 feet below. Public ownership In May 1935, the City of Austin bought the property for $10,000. Less than a month after the purchase, a massive flood on the Colorado River destroyed the bathhouse and other improvements, and filled the pool with mud and debris. The Works Progress Administration and the city of Austin jointly funded the building of a new bathhouse, which was designed by Austin architects Dan Driscoll and Delmar Groos. The new bathhouse was a mixture of Moderne and Rustic architectural styles; a relatively simple, L-shaped, single story building of rough-hewn and locally quarried limestone. The "pagoda-like roof", consisting of three metal platforms of decreasing size topped with a twenty-foot spire, covered only the reception area at the intersection of the two wings where swimmers paid their entry fees. At the center of this area sat an octagonal wood and limestone ticket counter, and above it hung a "wagon wheel, ringed with lights, suspended by chains." The men's and women's dressing rooms were located on either side of the entryway and were open to the elements. Initial plans called for the entire structure to be roofed, but the roofs over the dressing areas were removed from the plans when the project went overbudget. Using less space, the new bathhouse could accommodate more bathers than the private dressing rooms or cabanas which it replaced, and this economy was "passed on to the public through lower usages fees." The pool and bathhouse opened as a public park in July 1936. Over time, the city has put the property to a variety of uses. While the pool continues in operation, the city separated the western edge of the land as a park and playground named after A.J. Eilers. In 1962, the Austin Natural Science Center moved into the eastern portion of the bathhouse and significant alterations to the building were made. The patio on the southeastern side of the building was covered, and animal pens were installed along the outside of the eastern wall. Educational programs were hosted there, and exhibits on native Texas wildlife were on display. The western side of the bathhouse, however, remained dedicated to pool activities. After the Natural Science Center moved to Zilker Park in the 1980s, the building was used as office space until it