Boulder City Council on Thursday heard options for the future of its deteriorating recreation centers, setting up a broader discussion next month on what has become one of the city’s most high-stakes issues, particularly for South Boulder residents.
In the meantime, councilmembers directed staff to come back with capital investment scenarios and to make the minimal improvements needed to keep the city buildings in the worst condition open — most immediately at the East Boulder Recreation Center and two fire stations.
Several councilmembers suggested they felt they had little choice but to support those short-term fixes.
“The alternative is that critical buildings experience critical failures that cost a lot more money,” Councilmember Nicole Speer said.
The situation underscores a broader challenge: how to maintain core community structures while balancing competing needs across the city, and leaves unresolved one of the city’s most high-profile questions.
For weeks, South Boulder residents, including many children, have filled council chambers, urging the city to fully replace their failing rec center and keep a pool. Leading up to Thursday’s meeting, Councilmember Matt Benjamin echoed that push.
“I want to make sure we’re having the right conversation,” Benjamin wrote in a Hotline email ahead of the April 9 council meeting. “Not: pool vs. no pool, but how we fund the investment this community has clearly asked for.”
But other councilmembers emphasized the broader constraints facing the city.
“We have received hundreds of emails exhorting us to prioritize the full funding of the South Boulder Rec Center, and in a different world I have no question that we would do just that,” Councilmember Mark Wallach wrote in an April 6 Hotline email.
“Yet how do we accomplish that mission when the Public Safety Building is in even worse condition than the SBRC [South Boulder Rec Center], is well past its useful life and simply must be replaced? How do we permit our Fire Department to operate fire stations out of residential homes?”
A system under strain
The South Boulder Rec Center is one of 15 city buildings that the city says are failing, about 20% of its facilities. Those include the city’s other two rec centers, North and East, six fire stations, the police department headquarters and the West Age Well building.
Staff said those buildings need at least $20 million over the next five to six years “simply to keep the buildings operational for the next ten to fifteen years, with no guarantees.”
Over the longer term, the 15 buildings will require an estimated $500 million in renovations or replacements. The city has identified about $100 million in funding, leaving a roughly $400 million gap. Even potential ballot measures would not fully close that shortfall, staff said.
“As a result, any decisions made will result in tradeoffs for other buildings,” the staff memo said.
All three rec centers are beyond their “ideal renovation and replacement cycles,” making construction more expensive and leaving them short of the investment needed to maintain current service levels and stay up to code, according to staff.
Against that backdrop, staff presented two options for each rec center: a lower-cost plan to keep it running, and a more ambitious long-term upgrade:
East Boulder
- Minimum renovation and modernization, one pool (lap or leisure), $60-70 million
- Full renovation with two pools, expanded lap lanes and older adult wellness, $70-80 million
North Boulder
- Minimum renovation, $50-70 million
- Full renovation, potentially including a heated pool, $65–85 million
South Boulder
- New dry-focused facility, no pool, $30-50 million
- New full-service rec center with pool, $45-65 million
Staff also outlined how those site-specific options could translate into bigger, systemwide decisions, and presented three paths for the city’s recreation system: (1) fully upgrading all three rec centers, (2) pursuing a lower-cost plan by scaling back at South Boulder while fully upgrading the others, or (3) pursuing a lower-cost plan by scaling back at East Boulder while fully upgrading the others.
If the city cannot find funding to address all three, staff said it may need to close a rec center rather than continue investing in facilities it cannot sustain, according to the memo.
Several councilmembers said they didn’t yet have enough information to weigh in.
“I kind of feel like I’m making a decision in the dark,” Councilmember Rob Kaplan said, citing limited financial information at this stage.
Staff asked council if they should start developing investment options and, for now, focus on doing just enough to keep the most deteriorating buildings open. Council said yes to both.
Staff will present investment options in May to help inform future decisions, including potential 2026 ballot measures and the 2027 budget.
In the meantime, the city said it will move forward with the minimum work needed to keep key facilities open.
As a business owner faced with a cash shortage, I would sell non-revenue-generating assets. Boulder owns 46,600 acres outside of our 16,000 acres that actually make up our town. The vast majority of the surrounding acreage is simply a buffer and not used for recreation. Would the people of Boulder want to sell a few hundred acres to fund new rec centers?
I’d look into the validity of the $400 million in estimates as they seem high. Seems better to keep limping along.
As a business owner faced with a cash shortage I wouldn’t opt to start liquidating the assets (open space) that attract most of my “customers” to Boulder. Instead I would opt to cut the my numerous ongoing costs —
– I would cut the funded and unfunded costly transportation projects (TIP) with dubious utility like those reworking bus and bike lanes on Arapahoe, Iris, Folsom and 30th.
– I would work to understand the efficacy of the numerous grants I provide through the housing fund on a per capita basis and cut the ones that don’t have an outsize impact.
– And, lastly, I would take Federal grants where available that cover unfunded liabilities such as those we could get for the Boulder Airport.
A great place to start is the 2026 Boulder budget: https://stories.opengov.com/cityofboulderco/36b2e65e-af4a-4cb8-9aea-236d617062d6/published/KTAIb0l0W
The Council unanimously approved $20M (not a small amount) for “minimum maintenance” requirements without being provided any allocation information on where that money is being prioritized and which facilities are getting how much. I’m stunned –just a $20M check for Facilities to use where they want and how they want. There are implications for that on rec centers. See my post on Nextdoor: https://nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=469933270
Why is it that the City of Boulder was able to afford to build these buildings a half-century ago, when Boulder had a much smaller population and much smaller revenue base, but we cannot afford it today? What has changed? Were taxes so much higher then? Were revenues higher? Were the relative costs lower? Do we have so many more demands for city services today? With so many more people living here today, and more people to share the cost, it seems that we should be able to afford upkeep, maintenance, and even re-building of civic buildings.
“Yet how do we accomplish that mission when the Public Safety Building is in even worse condition than the SBRC [South Boulder Rec Center], is well past its useful life and simply must be replaced?How do we permit our Fire Department to operate fire stations out of residential homes? How do we permit our City Hall … to look like it is the town hall in an old Soviet Republic?”
Mark Wallach, what are you talking about? We just spent $32 million on the fanciest fire station I’ve ever seen on North 30th. If “city hall” is referring to the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building, are you seriously likening that to the Soviet Union? This has to be a joke.
Boulder’s asset management is abysmal. Every condo project requires a sinking fund for replacement of all building systems, future needs established by third-party audit, and a big chunk of everyone’s HOA dues. These rec center and fire station issues sound as though a total surprise to staff. The City has been in love with trendy boondoggles. We are tunneling under every intersection for benefit of bicycles. Need money? Sell the Broadway BCH fiasco. Move City offices to the eastern or northern city periphery, as cheaply as possible and easier for employees to commute. Aggressively reduce staff, an absurd luxury in a no-growth town. The south rec is located in the midst of some of the most expensive homes in Boulder, so create a tax district, ditto east and north. Lou Barnes
Meanwhile, we are spending 100M to build a low-carbon, all-electric, Western City Campus, which the city expects to “house city administrative offices”. We are doing this when our rec centers and fire stations are falling apart?
I’d like to understand how the City got itself in this position? The build date/age of each rec center is clearly known. If they each have a “useful life” period, why wasn’t the City planning funds accordingly? Whose responsibility is this? Tax paying residents expect a certain level of community resources to continue to make Boulder a desirable place to live, and there are not enough lap swim lanes to meet the demand. Residents, swim teams, Boulder Community Aquatics Coalition, and Reimagine South Boulder Rec members have been telling the City this for years. I’ve considered moving to neighboring communities – the rec centers are new & nice – there are true aquatic centers – and houses are less expensive. Come on Boulder, you can do better.
Does a pool cost 60 million dollars now? Seriously?
It’s not like we can trust anyone on the city council to make a decision that is in the best interest of the residents of Boulder. South Boulder Rec is the least expensive renovation and on the docket to be stripped of a pool when the two other rec centers are getting pool upgrades regardless of which plan they go with. Our high schools use South Boulder rec center for swim team. I don’t even see how this can be a discussion!! South Boulder Rec needs a pool. And that’s that. I pay 30%+ in city taxes for my commercial property in Boulder. I should get a say on how my tax money is spent over these city council people!