Natatorium housed a large gymnasium and swimming pool. The wife of the hoist operator (whose name is not known) wrote the following account: “One Friday (the day before the cave-in) when the ladies were enjoying their day in the swimming tank (I’ve always been thankful I was not there), all of sudden the water left the tank in one big gulp.” Then the final early Sunday morning, April 22, account by Chief Geologist Livingston Wernecke: “The flood-tide increased rapidly the volume of water and soon undermined the Natatorium, which with many cracks, groans, and noises of splitting boards, disappeared about 1:15 a.m. It was immediately followed by the Fire Hall. The stream by then had become a mighty, the size of the Yukon at Whitehorse rapids. The roar of rushing water and caving banks was terrifying.”
