Boise approves multimillion-dollar contract for historic Idaho pool work
Lowell Pool, one of the two oldest in Boise, will get an infusion of cash to bring it new life — up to almost $9.4 million, according to an agreement approved by the Boise City Council Tuesday.
That includes $8.4 million for construction work and just under $964,000 for preconstruction work, such as for design, estimating costs and public meetings, spokesperson Abby Haydin said in an email Wednesday. The pool will be open for the 2029 season, Haydin said.
The city closed the pool and South Pool, both built in 1953, because of the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset in 2020. But the closure extended because of concerns over possible asbestos, lead paint, corroded pipes and other damage, according to previous Statesman reporting.
Some Boise residents, concerned about the pool’s fate, formed the organization Friends of Boise Historic Pools in 2021. The two pools were designed by Wesley Bintz, and are two of around a dozen remaining, according to previous Statesman reporting.
“This has been a long time in the making,” council member Jimmy Hallyburton said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “Kind of a big milestone for us.”
The city faced a challenge in finding a contractor that has worked with pools, and historic pools at that, Hallyburton said. The Lowell Pool is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the scope of work included that improvements have to be sensitive to historic rehabilitation standards. The council on Tuesday approved an agreement with CORE Construction, a national company with an office in Boise.
The scope of work isn’t just bringing the pool back to its original function but also includes structural improvements, refinishing the pool basin, installing new pool equipment and an addition for showers and restrooms that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to city documents.
In 2024, former Parks and Recreation Director Doug Holloway guessed that Lowell Pool renovations would cost $9.2 million, according to previous Statesman reporting.
“Time is our enemy on this; the costs are only going to increase,” council member Colin Nash said at the time.
The two pools have needed costly renovation work before, according to previous Statesman reporting. In the early 1990s, an anonymous donor gifted $130,000 over two years to put in heaters, upgrade restrooms and work on pipes and landscaping, among other improvements.
The person in question heard before their first gift that the pools were “facing closure because the city didn’t have enough money to renovate them,” a city official said at the time. The donor “kept them from closing.”
