Completed in 1924, Champagne Bath was one of the first two indoor swimming pools in Ottawa. The other was the Plant Bath, constructed the same year, on Somerset Street. In the aftermath of the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, and before the advent of indoor plumbing, city officials believed public baths would go a long way toward improving the health and hygiene of working-class residents. They were named after two mayors of the era, Frank Plant and Napoleon Champagne.
