ISU to unveil long-awaited and newly remodeled pool
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POCATELLO – Students and community members waiting for the opportunity to swim again in an over seven-decade-old pool will soon get their chance.
Idaho State University is holding a grand re-opening of the now remodeled pool in Reed Gym open to anyone in the public to attend. On Nov. 20 at 5 p.m. at 1291 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, people will hear remarks from President Robert Wagner and celebrate the reintroduction of this decades old campus amenity.
“All of our students and faculty are very excited and the community is excited to get back in this pool,” said Karen Homstad, associate director of campus recreation.
However, attendees should hold off on bringing their swimsuits. While construction work on the pool is finished and it’s filled with water, it hasn’t been permitted to operate yet.
“We have to have (Southeast Idaho Public Health) come in and check, make sure we’ve checked all the boxes and then they will allow people to swim in it,” Homstad said.
ISU also has to make sure that it has enough lifeguards to staff the pool before it can be officially opened. While Homstad has hired everyone they need, they need to complete safety training, which they can’t do until they’ve been permitted to operate.
“We just need to make sure that our staff who have never worked together before is trained up in our emergency response,” Homstad said.
The pool, originally opened in 1950, was closed in 2021 after outliving its lifespan. Over its 71 years of operation it had been patched a number of times, but it was still leaking water and had major structural damage by the time of its closing.
The only thing that remains from before the pool’s renovation is the hole in the ground. The construction crew demoed the pool and gutted the old mechanical room, replacing it with new tiles, pipes, and filters. They also added a new gutter system and brand new equipment in the mechanical room.
“It is definitely brand new and shiny,” Homstad said.
After closing the pool, Homstad said her and the staff would get near-daily questions about what happened to it. After they took the plywood off the newly-installed doors allowing people to see inside, the questions “quadrupled.”
“It was easy when the pool didn’t have any water in it, but people still had some questions,” Homstad said. “Now that we’ve got water in it, people are wondering when they get to swim.”
While Homstad doesn’t know exactly what date it will be open to swimmers, classes taken in the pool are already available for Spring 2025 registration. There are a variety of swimming classes, kayaking classes, Stand Up Paddle Boarding and others.
