Crystal Garden was Salem’s dance hall for decades

The nondescript building on the southeast corner of Liberty and Ferry streets SE holds a colorful past.

The Crystal Garden Building, constructed in the mid-1920s, once was known as the Crystal Garden Ballroom, and it was one of Salem’s go-to social spots.

The building was the work of Otto Klett, who ran the ballroom until his death in 1947. Although the ballroom’s exterior looks like it did decades ago, the interior was much different.

In the early years, the basement had a steam room and athletic club; the first floor had a swimming pool and office space; and the second floor housed a dance area.

Klett reportedly ended swimming at the Crystal Garden because it started to lose money in 1929.

At that point, the business focused on dances.

W.D. Gwynn, who owned the building beginning in 1949, told the Oregon Statesman in a Dec. 12, 1971, story that Klett had the swimming pool on the main floor covered with maple flooring, and he turned it into another dance floor.

“ ‘Two floors, two bands, for two bits’ was the Crystal Ballroom’s slogan in ensuing years, with modern dancing on the main floor and old-time dancing — polkas, schottishes and two-steps — upstairs,” the Oregon Statesman reported.

In 1939, it hosted one of Gov. Charles Sprague’s inaugural ball celebrations.

An Aug. 15, 1964, Oregon Statesman story said the ballroom was the largest in Salem, and it hosted well-known band leaders Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa and Ray Anthony.

The building was remodeled under Gwynn’s ownership.

In the early 1950s, the building also gained favor as a place for meetings, banquets and conventions while still serving as a dance spot two nights per week. By the end of the decade, however, things changed.

Interest in the building grew for office purposes, not for bands and dance promoters.

The last dance at the Crystal Garden Ballroom took place Aug. 15, 1964, after which the building permanently was converted to professional and office use.

It was the end of an era. When the ballroom closed, it was the last of its kind in Salem. Crystal Garden’s earlier competition, West Salem’s Mellow Moon, became a roller skating rink in the years before it was swept away in a flood on the Willamette River in the 1940s.

The building houses a variety of businesses today, including a bridal gown shop and a comedy club.

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