South Boulder Recreation Center conflict draws packed meetings

South Boulder residents have been packing City Council meetings for months, sending a clear message: do not let their neighborhood recreation center disappear. Penelope Heller, a middle schooler, recently spoke to City Council about the importance of having a recreation center in her neighborhood.

“We should all be in a 15-minute neighborhood that includes access to an awesome rec center with a pool, gym and all the great other features,” Heller said. She explained that her family relocated from Texas a few years ago and chose Boulder for its walkability.

The city has said it has no current plan to close the South Boulder Recreation Center. In 2025, the city identified funding for extensive building improvements to support operations until long-term plans are made, and officials say they are still committed to indoor recreation in South Boulder. But residents worry that “indoor recreation” could mean something much smaller than the facility they have now.

The South Boulder Recreation Center has served as a community hub since 1974, offering a six-lane lap pool, workout classes, basketball courts, a sauna and one of the few affordable indoor recreation options in that part of the city. Now that the aging facility is nearing the end of its useful life, residents fear that any replacement could be smaller, delayed or missing key amenities such as a pool.

Community members like Yvonne Bennett and Christine Brescoll are working to ensure that the South Boulder Rec stays open or is replaced with a full-service facility so that community members who don’t drive can access an affordable exercise center and pool.

“Thinking about the Fairview [High School] swim team, they can walk right down here to practice,” Bennett said. “To try to get Fairview students to take a bus, it would take 40 minutes.”

Amelia Dickerson, who is blind, uses the South Boulder Recreation Center for running and barre classes. 

“Without this rec center, I don’t really know where I could go because I don’t drive,” she said, echoing Bennett’s concern about the lack of efficient bus routes to the North and East Boulder rec centers.

City officials say they understand the concern but are facing a larger infrastructure problem. Boulder’s three recreation centers are aging, and the city must decide how to spend limited money across facilities that all need major repairs or replacement.

“One of the things that is core to who Boulder is is a commitment to health and well-being,” said Parks and Recreation Director Ali Rhodes. “The fact that we have three recreation centers spread across town speaks to the fact that this community cares about recreation, and all three recreation centers are aging.”

The South Boulder Recreation Center’s problems are not new. In a 2016 assessment, the city found that the facility would reach the end of its useful life by 2026. After the center’s boiler failed and flooded the gym in 2021, the pool was temporarily shut down. Since then, leaks have contributed to rising moisture levels in the gym.

Much of the tension comes from the city’s current priority: the East Boulder Community Center. Boulder is moving forward with a major renovation and energy retrofit at East, while South Boulder residents are being told the replacement of their center likely depends on future funding.

In 2024, the city publicized the Future of Rec Centers project to engage the community planning the design of the rec centers. According to Rhodes, the Parks & Recreation Department has conducted extensive public engagement. 

“We’ve talked to folks in the community, asking questions like ‘What do you want to see, not only at East, but when we get funding to replace South and renovate North?’” Rhodes said.

Some residents say they thought previous tax measures would help pay for the South Boulder facility. Instead, they now see the city preparing to spend heavily on East Boulder while South Boulder waits for a possible future ballot measure.

“The tax went through, and that was for $13 million,” Bennett said. “And now all of a sudden, the project has ballooned up into $53 million for East.”

City staff have said using Community, Culture, Resilience and Safety tax money for the South Boulder Rec, as is being done at East Boulder Rec, would go against the stated intent of that funding. Rhodes said East Boulder has reached a “critical inflection point,” meaning investment now could extend the life of the building and its systems, while delaying work could lead to further deterioration.

That explanation has not eased frustration in South Boulder. 

“For folks in South Boulder, they are sort of feeling a little bit blindsided,” said Boulder City Council member Nicole Speer. “They were told a few years ago that the rec center wasn’t going to make it for that much longer, and it was on track to be replaced.”

Speer said misinformation has also fueled fears that the recreation center will not be replaced.

“I don’t see (it not being replaced) as an option,” Speer said, emphasizing that the South Boulder Recreation Center would remain.

City Council is expected to hold a study session on June 25 to discuss possible ballot measures that could help fund a future South Boulder recreation center. What the city can build, Rhodes said, will depend on how much funding voters approve.

“I believe there will be ballot measures that have funding for a future South Boulder Recreation Center, and what we can build there will depend on how much is funded,” Rhodes said. “We would love a future South Boulder Rec Center to have a pool. It needs to come with operating dollars … All three recreation centers need tens of millions of dollars in investment, and I still would prioritize East before South.”

For South Boulder residents, that is exactly the problem. They worry the city’s priorities will leave their neighborhood without a comparable facility for years.

“The frustrating part is I feel like no one is listening to us,” Bennett said. “It’s like we are the taxpayers. We are showing up for city council meetings. I mean, it’s been packed upstairs, downstairs.”

While some residents have argued for renovating the existing facility, Rhodes said the city does not see that as a viable long-term option.

“We are recommending a full replacement of the rec center,” Rhodes said.

The South Boulder Recreation Center is one of 15 critical city buildings that need to be replaced or significantly renovated in the next 20 years, according to Speer. She said older buildings can become more expensive over time because they use more energy and were not designed for a changing climate.

“Having buildings that are old and use up a ton of energy is actually really expensive in the long term,” Speer said. “Now we are building infrastructure to be resilient to the climate that we know is changing. That’s part of what’s included in this. Because it’s so much more expensive if we don’t prepare.”

Still, for residents who use the South Boulder Recreation Center now, the long-term planning conversation does not answer the immediate concern: whether their neighborhood will still have an accessible, affordable place to swim, exercise and gather. Bennett and Brescoll said they are doubtful that packed meetings and public pressure will change the city’s priorities.

“I feel like they are going to spend what they want to spend at East,” Brescoll said. “We feel like we’re being neglected.”