BOISE, Idaho — One of the latest additions to Boise's parks, and one of the most popular, is Esther Simplot Park, named after the widow of the famous Idaho potato magnate.
Almost 50 years ago, construction to beautify the Boise greenbelt began. The city created a series of parks that were all named after some of Boise's best civic leaders; Ann Morrison, Julia Davis, Marianne Williams, and Kristin Armstrong were just a few of the people selected to name the parks after.
Esther Simplot, widow of J.R. Simplot, was also selected for her contributions and support of the performing arts in the area. She is also responsible for creating the Boise opera company and the performing arts academy bearing her name.
The 55-acre park sits where the western edge of downtown Boise meets the Boise River. The park is especially unique due to the fact that roughly 22 acres of the space are just water, making it extra popular in the hot summer months.
"Arguably the most popular location from June through August anywhere in our park system in the City of Boise," Doug Holloway, Director for Boise Parks and Recreation said. "I would say probably as popular as anywhere in Idaho."
However, the park wasn't always such a popular hang-out spot. 50 years ago, before the Boise River Greenbelt was created, the stretch along the river was just a gravel pit with trees, sewage, trash and erosion.
Turning a pit into a park took a unique perspective, an idea that was initiated with an ice rink.
Idaho Ice World was built in the late 90s by the J. R. Simplot Company, but by the early 2000s, they were looking to offload it and sold it to the city for $1 million.
"The agreement was that once we paid the million dollars for Idaho Ice World, the Simplot family would turn around and donate that money back to the city to purchase the remaining acreage of what would become Esther Simplot Park," Holloway said.
Paying for the land was just part of the plan, the Simplot's also wanted to have a say in the park's design.
"Then, Scott Simplot, he was a genius on this design. He wanted the ponds to connect with each other and he wanted them to connect with Quinn's," Holloway said.
Construction on the park began in late 2014, and was expected to take about a year to finish. However, once the ground was broken on the first pond, they uncovered contaminated material in the dirt which halted construction.
The clean up pushed back the completion of the project by about 9 months, but by November of 2016, Esther Simplot Park was officially open to the public.
"The community's going to enjoy this forever. It has so many things that children and people can do and enjoy," Esther Simplot said at the dedication. "I don't think there's any other city that has this type of group of parks for the enjoyment of the people."
The park gives Boiseans access to acres of water without having to even leave the downtown area.
"The biggest amenity is the fact that it's a water feature, and so there are channels that folks can actually start in Quinn's," Holloway said. "They can channel through into Esther Simplot pond one and then they can go through a channel with a footbridge over the top of it into pond two. Then you can either get into Veteran's Park pond or you can jump into the river."
"But I think it's the real picturesque piece to it too as well," Holloway said. "Not only are there beautiful views wherever you're at in this park, when you're on the south side of the park, you have this amazing view of the foothills too as well."
The $1 million price tag for the ice ring was significantly less than the property was worth, and the overall cost of the park came out to $16 million, but the value it has added to the city has been priceless.
The park has not been without problems, however, as it has had one or more of its ponds closed during the summer months due to high levels of E. coli.
The city has worked to address those problems by trying to get additional water rights to bring in fresh water from the Boise River to help with circulation. A solution that seems to be working as recent testing by Central District Health shows much lower levels this summer.
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