BOISE, Idaho — If you have ever gone swimming at the Lowell or South pools in Boise, you can now say you have been swimming in a piece of history. The two pools were listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) this month.
They were built in 1953 and were the city's first purpose-built municipal pools. The feature a unique above-ground design that was patented by engineer Wesley Bintz.
“These nominations were brought to us," said Dan Everhart, the outreach historian at Idaho State Historical Society (SHPO). "These nominations came to us from the public and we worked with them to fine-tune the nominations to make sure they were ready for submittal to the National Park Service. The nominations came through a grassroots effort”
The SHPO coordinates the national register nominations for Idaho. In order to be listed, a site must be significant and retain its integrity.
“The National Register program is honorific. So it doesn’t come with any restriction to the property owner," Everhart said. "There’s no decision-making that’s done or forced upon the owner by a national register listing. The reason the neighborhood advocated worked to write these nominations and have the pools listed was because they thought, I hope rightfully, there would be additional recognize the pools would receive and maybe that would factor into the decision-making.”
The City of Boise owns both pools. They have been closed since 2020 when Public Works set out to determine the condition of the pools.
Several code violations were found that make the pools fall short of ADA standards. People with mobility restrictions can't get to the deck due to it being above-ground. The pool has electrical and plumbing issues as well.
“Whether the registration occurs or didn’t occur, I think the mayor and city council still look at those pools as what is practical, what’s reasonable, and what makes the most sense from a financial perspective," said Doug Holloway, the director of Boise Parks & Recreation, "As well as a community perspective for our citizens. So that's how they will gauge what kind of decision they're going to make."
The city is discussing two options for bringing the pools back. They could either renovate the pools and bring them up to code, or build a completely new pool.
Both options are expected to have similar costs in the millions, something the city doesn't have the money for.
"We were pretty certain those options were going to be far beyond the resources we had available," Holloway said. "So we wanted to be very up-front with the community and make sure that as we went through the process that we believe we needed to do that. But also the expectation that funding is going to be an issue when you take the pools and the priority of the pools compared to all the other capital projects the city has in our portfolio right now."
The city has gone through community engagement and outreach. Speaking with locals and being open about issues the development faces.
The majority of the community prefers renovating the pools over building a new one.
“It does have some historical significance, I would almost thought it almost has a nostalgic significance as much as the historical," Holloway said. "I think I’ve talked to more people who are just more attached to the pool because they grew up in it...But either way we wanted to listen to our community, be very transparent when it came to the funding piece with it, see where it’s at where those numbers shake out.”
Some renovations that would be needed if the pools were renovated include adding an elevator and expanding the pool deck to make them more accessible.
The city is expecting to have more specific estimates on how much both options will cost in a few weeks. They may even look to partnerships or donations to fund the project.
After that, they will have a better idea on the next steps to take.
“They anchor these neighborhoods and have done so for now 70 years," Everhart said. "There’s a value here that exceeds simply the budgetary constraints of the city or ideas about public recreation. These pools could be made accessible and useful and functional for a modern swimming public. I certainly hope that’s the way the city goes.”
The city has had no discussions about closing the pools.
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