Did Kennywood Park Really Close its Pool because of the Civil Rights Act?

With Covid 19 Flu Virus afoot many activity's by the public are limited and many venues like amusement parks wonder if they will even be able to open this year.
Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh being one of them. 

Which brought back some memories of when I was a kid and an unsubstantiated rumor  about Kennywood Park and its Pool

I remember the pool it was gigantic and got to swim at it when I was a little kid in early 60s

It had an island in the middle with slides and diving boards etc. But then one summer it was gone
and it closed the year after the Civil Rights Act eliminated Jim Crow era rules and Blacks could now swim at the pool.

Some in the community claimed the pool closed because blacks could now swim there and while some may have seen it as a good thing and the reason the pool closed.

The real reason is the pool was leaking substantial amounts of water and improvements needed to fix the leaks and  stay current with health regulations where prohibitive . That,s the official story of the park but i dug up this on internet

Why did Kennywood pool close?

A riot broke out when a fair skinned family friend brought her dark-skinned husband onto the floor after she initially passed for white. Eventually Kennywood was sued in court to integrate the pool and lost, but instead of complying they simply closed the pool.

Kennywood was not the only privately owned public pool to close around that time in the 60s.

 So did Glen Burke in Monroeville and Blue Dell further out US22 .

and Piney Fork  near South Park.

All of these pools where losing money and where having serious maintenance issues.  as well as a drop in attendance as above ground pools became cheaper to install and more attractive than having to get in a car and drive some where and then pay to get in.
Where some of the attendance issues Racists related absolutely I heard several people say they would not allow their children to swim with blacks.  which just compounded the issues.

So was the pool closed over the civil rights act appears so. But the civil Rights Act was one of many factors saw its demise as well as the others .

In fact the last 20 years there are only a small group of Privately owned public pools still operating
many closed after heath regulations became more stringent and liability insurance costs got out of hand due to fraudulent lawsuits which was also a problem for Kennywood. 

Plus new ADA rules requiring a ramp or lift to allow Wheel Chair bound individuals to swim have become too expensive to comply with.

When you go into a store and see all the cameras all over the place do you think its for shoplifting ?

No its to protect the business  from  slip and fall and other fraudulent lawsuits .
and that's a dam shame.

https://pittsburgh.momcollective.com/parenting-perspectives/pittsburgh-jim-crow/

The Enduring Mystery of Pittsburgh Who was the the Baby Named Catherine found in the Sheridan Theater and help launch a famous Charity

It is long gone now and happened many years ago in 1928 when a group of 11 men playing cards in the back of the there after a Matinee and the cries of a child was heard and was located in one of the theater seats

Pinned to the young child was a note

Please take care of my baby. Her name is Catherine. I can no longer take care of her. I have eight others. My husband is out of work. She was born on Thanksgiving Day. I have always heard of the goodness of show business people and I pray to God that you will look after her.”

With this child and note began an enduring mystery.  Who was she and where did she come from

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/16551

https://www.varietypittsburgh.org/organization/history/

Although the theater  along Penn Ave is long gone and the men who found her have all long since passed . They made sure she was taken care of  for many years serving as adoptive uncles and given to a good set of  parents who adopted
her and kept anonymous despite fact she served in Korea and Vietnam as a nurse  in 1980 .
She voluntarily came forward to reveal who she was as an adult and sadly passed at the early age of 65 in September of 1994.

But that's not the end of the story . Many speculate the reason the mother had abandoned her daughter in the theater is because show people have a big heart . In fact those 11 men where among a group of theater owners and performers who had the year before set up the social club known as the   Variety Club which was known for its many good deeds she had indeed picked the right place and Catherine
became  the inspiration behind it
Now known as  Variety- The Children's Charity  it has spread worldwide in its quest to help disabled children.

https://www.varietypittsburgh.org/organization/mission-vision/

But who was Catherine  some speculate she came from a Catholic background because Catholics often raised big family's . No one knows for sure and to my knowledge a DNA test was never performed to possibly find descendants.

Strange Little 2 Story Buildings you can find in Beaver County What are they ? Prophets Chambers what?

If you travel thru the country you may run across these strange about 8ft square 2 story structures every once in a while 2 such structures still exist in Beaver County Pa  one in Darlington and one in South Beaver

They served a very important purpose in the Community's and where known as Prophets Chambers
Back before community's had fully established churches and full time ministers you had ministers known as  Circuit Riders .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_rider_(religious)

 Many of the Methodist Faith they would ride from town to town providing ministry and the Prophets Chamber provided a place of rest  and refreshment for the Circuit Riding Ministers  after a long days ride. 

As permanent full time ministers and churches became the normal in towns around the country 

the Circuit Riding Minister went into obscurity with the exception of one minister in the deep south  Robert E. Harris

who rode a horse and stopped at Truck stops thru North Carolina.  till His Death in 2007

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-20-mn-443-story.html

https://www.grocefuneralhome.com/obits/robert-edward-harris/

Monthly Column appears in Movin Out Truckers Newspaper available most truck stops 

 and Pastor Dan Boyd  who calls himself the last circuit Rider. 

http://www.the-last-circuit-riding-preacher.com/