"A closed-up, run-down Depression-era bathhouse beside a filled-in swimming pool has become a focus of historic preservation in Durham.

Its foundation is cracked, its roof leaks, its restrooms work unless they're vandalized again, and, according to one study, it would be cheaper to tear it down and build something new than to undertake restoration.

Still, as restoration proponent Bill Anderson told the City Council last week, the Duke Park Bathhouse is "one of our last remaining buildings in our most historic park."

Anderson asked the city to commit $600,000 to restoration, a job estimated at almost $1 million. Councilman Eugene Brown said he grew up in the adjoining Duke Park neighborhood and considers the bathhouse's preservation a "high priority."

However, there was little support from his colleagues, who put off considering the matter at least until next year's budget season."

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News Observer (9/24/2011)