Spruce Pool and the 2027 Boulder budget

The numbers

$304M+ ¹

committed to the Alpine-Balsam campus $40M land + $16M demolition + $140M campus + $108M interest.

$400M ²

Recreation & Safety Bond on the November ballot

$650M ²

total repayment on the bond

19 ³

days at or above 90°F, 1990s average

46 ³

days at or above 90°F, 2020s average 2020 through 2026; 2026 counted through Aug 29.

23+ ⁴

days at or above 95°F in 2026 — a new record

6 ⁴

days at or above 100°F in 2026 — ties the all-time record

Days at or above 90°F in Boulder ³

1990s average

19 days

2000s average

37 days

2010s average

39 days

2020s average

46 days

2026 is counted through Aug 29. Boulder's record year is 1952, at 60 days; the 1950s were hot too. The point here is the direction since 1990, and the records set in 2026. Highest year in this record: 59 days.

How it got here

• 1922 — Boulder's first public pool opens. The Hygienic Swimming Pool, at 21st and Spruce, warmed by waste heat from the ice plant next door. ⁵
• 2025 — Closed two weeks early. Spruce shuts on Aug 17 instead of Labor Day, saving roughly $20,000. The city says it will survey users. The surveys are never posted. ⁶
• 2026 — Weekdays cut, in the hottest summer on record. Weekday operations end Aug 11. Weekends only through Labor Day — in a year that set Boulder's record for 95°+ days. ⁷
• 2027 — Ongoing funding removed. The recommended budget strips the ongoing line item and keeps the pool open on one-time money. Scott Carpenter's hours are cut too. ⁸
• 2028 — Closed. "Funding will not be available for 2028." Unless council acts by October 15. ⁸

The ask

1. 1. Restore the ongoing operating funding. Put Spruce Pool's roughly $138,000 back into the 2027 base budget as ongoing money, not one-time money — so a 2028 closure is not baked in before anyone votes on it.
2. 2. Put Spruce in the capital plan. Add Spruce Pool to the 2027–2032 capital improvement program: fund a facility condition assessment in 2027, and a capital refresh from the Permanent Parks & Recreation Fund, which is capital-only by charter.
3. 3. No closure by footnote. Direct staff and the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board to bring council a sustainability plan for Spruce — with attendance data, cost per visit and alternatives — before any closure decision is made.

Where the money can come from: Climate Tax · Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax · Permanent Parks & Recreation Fund · Earned and partner revenue

Common objections

“Scott Carpenter Pool is only 1.3 miles away.”

Scott Carpenter is a regional complex — slides, swim teams, crowds — and its shoulder-season hours are being cut in the same budget. Spruce is the quiet neighborhood pool. And 1.3 miles is a drive, not a walk, when you are six years old or eighty.

“We have exhausted the options.”

Four funding sources in this same budget could cover $138,000. Which of them were evaluated for Spruce specifically, and what did the analysis say? We have asked for the answer under the Colorado Open Records Act.

“Spruce is underutilized.”

Then show the attendance data, and the cost per visit at every city facility next to it. You cannot cut the hours, close two weeks early, skip the promised survey, and then cite low usage as the reason to close.

“Minimum wage is up and chemical costs rose 30%.”

True — and true for every pool the city runs. Rising costs explain why the budget is tight. They do not explain why this particular facility was chosen to absorb them.

“The budget is balanced. Reopening it unravels everything.”

$138,000 is about 2% of the $6.3 million gap the city is closing. Council amended the bond ballot language in August. It can amend a footnote in October.

“One-time money keeps it open through 2027. We can decide later.”

Base budgets compound. Once the ongoing line is gone, restoring it in 2028 is scored as a new expense competing against everything else, not as continuing something that already exists. Later is how this ends.

Key dates

• October 1 , 6 p.m. — Budget public hearing #1
• October 15 , 6 p.m. — Budget public hearing #2 — likely adoption vote
• November 3 — Election Day — mayor, five council seats, $400M Recreation & Safety Bond