Deep Dive

On the site of a historic pool in Lagos, a bold new complex celebrates Yoruba culture

- ELIZABETH FAZZARE

On Lagos Island, in the heart of the Nigerian metropolis, the city's first public pool has sat empty since the 1970s. Some Nigerians remember its later years as an infamous spot to canoodle, but its heyday began in 1928, in the era of Art Deco. After being denied financial support from the then colony's British government, philanthropic doctor John Randle put forth his own funds to build it. At the time, the neighborhood was a hotbed of segregation politics. The British had opened a nearby members-only club in 1926, prompting Yoruba locals to start their own two years later. A few blocks away, Broad Street Prison-now a public park by local architect Theo Lawson-jailed activists for political protest.