The significance of the pool complex is based on its association with the value of recreation for both the military and the local community.

It is not fully known why it never reopened, most likely operating costs were getting too high, or the death of a young teenage boy at the pool a few years prior.

For 7 years the pool sat empty and abandoned, until the basin was filled in with dirt and turned into an outdoor amphitheater.

Many residents expressed their dismay at the decision, as the city no longer had a public option to swim.

This article about a property in Polk County, Iowa on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.