New Eagle Pool makes a big splash with residents at grand opening

With school finally out, just about every kid in Eagle showed up on Thursday at the one place to be to start the summer off right: the Eagle Pool.

After a three-year wait, the brand-new facility opened to hordes of eager youngsters, with parents in tow, offering free admission for the day and perfect weather for jumping in.  

There were two new slides to ride, a zip line and a climbing wall, a basketball hoop, a splash pad, four new family changing rooms and, of course, Willy the Frog — a holdover from the previous pool facility that closed three years ago.

Just like pristine white deck chairs and the crisp red lifeguard uniforms, Willy — named after longtime town of Eagle manager Willy Powell —  was looking sharp. Alpine Collision gave the old frog a new paint job as construction on the new pool was completed.

Sheryl Staten, who has been the facilities manager at the Eagle Pool and Ice Rink since the original pool opened in 2003, said she had goosebumps and chills Thursday. And it wasn’t because she was the first to go down one of the two slides as town and Mountain Recreation officials cut a makeshift ribbon.

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“I’m just super excited to get this going,” she said. “The community has really been craving it the last few years. I’m a mom myself, so I totally know how important it is for kids to learn to swim and enjoy the water as a family. This pool is amazing because it’s going to cover joy for all ages, from babies on up.”

Double the fun

The new $13 million project nearly doubles the water surface area of the old pool with a zero-depth leisure pool and a separate six-lane lap pool. The previous pool, which opened in 2003, had a capacity of around 300 while the new facility can host 486.

Town and district officials were forced to close the old pool in May 2022 following the discovery of significant water loss. A third-party assessment found the pool was settling in the northwest end, compromising filtration and preventing proper chemical treatment, ultimately failing to meet health code requirements. 

The loss of the beloved community fixture created a void that persisted for three summers. It took a lot of hard work and collaboration between the town and Mountain Recreation to get the new facility built, and the smiles on the faces of nearly everyone who showed up to Thursday’s opening proved it was well worth the effort.

‘It’s the whole community that made this work’

“I always look for silver linings, and this is a better facility than we had before,” said Tom Pohl, the vice president of the Mountain Recreation board. “And it’s going serve the next generation really well.”

Eagle Mayor Scott Turnipseed said of all the ribbon cuttings he’s done, Thursday’s was “probably the best one.”

“It’s so great to be able to have something to celebrate,” he said. “To see this come together is amazing. Look at how many kids are here on Day 1? This is crazy. It’s unreal.”

Ture Nycum, Mountain Recreation’s executive director, said the new pool isn’t just the result of the efforts of the town and rec district officials.

“It’s the whole community that made this work,” he said. “There are so many people who participated in this process. Even the community members coming out and telling us at public meetings, we got this design based on that. It’s not just staff and it’s not just elected officials.”

A $500,000 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado helped get the project over the finish line.  

Dynamic Program Management served as the owner’s representative on the project, with JHL Constructors selected as the general contractor and Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative as the design team.

“This is about as good as it gets,” Pohl said. “We’ve been waiting for this day for over three years. We were blessed that we were able to put together an incredible team to bring it all together. The work that the staffs put into this, the work that the community, the town of Eagle, everybody put into this, to see it finally come to fruition, you can’t put it into words.”

Pool passes are available for in-person purchase from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Eagle Pool and Ice Rink; from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays at the Gypsum Recreation Center, and from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Edwards Field House. 

Mountain Recreation officials also said that around 60 lifeguards have been hired this summer to staff its outdoor pools in Eagle and Gypsum Creek and the indoor facility at the Gypsum Recreation Center. Around 30 of those lifeguards are deepwater certified. The district is still looking to add another 10 lifeguards and is continuing to hire positions for the summer with pay starting at $20.50 per hour for certified lifeguards. You must be at least 15 years old to become a lifeguard.

For hours of operation, lifeguard trainings, swim programs and more information, visit MountainRec.org.