Boscobel community members organize to raise funds for a new pool

BOSCOBEL, Wis. — Boscobel’s municipal pool is overdue for replacement, and community members have organized to raise funds and bring awareness to the efforts to keep the facility in use for years to come.

Besides being a hub for recreational activity, the city pool is an important safety tool for the city’s residents. In addition to providing swimming lessons, it’s a much safer alternative to the area’s natural water bodies, like the Wisconsin River. It also promotes a more active lifestyle for people of all ages, especially children, who can take part in a recreational swim team that competes with other squads in the area.

“A new pool is not just a place to swim,” Cody Adams, a member of the Boscobel Pool Committee, working to find the necessary funding to replace the aging pool. “It’s an investment in the health, safety, and future of the entire community.”

The committee, comprised of current and former pool employees as well as community members, was formed in an effort to update the facility and keep a pool in Boscobel for decades to come.

The current pool, built in 1981, was designed to last 25 years. Parts for the current water pumps are no longer available, Adams said. Additionally, parts that are available tend to be expensive as they were designed for machines used in the 1980’s, making them scarce.

Julie Kendall and Marlys Hennessy, Committee Members helping organize fundraising opportunities for the city pool, said that there’s a risk that the pool would need to shut down indefinitely if any of the current machinery stopped operating. That means local options for safe swimming would be limited, especially without the ability to conduct swimming lessons if the pool was closed.

“This is something that if we don’t worry about a problem until we have a problem, it’s already too late,” Adams said.

With the pool 20 years past its designed use, and the impracticality of maintaining decades-old machinery, committee members are running a grassroots campaign to seed money to replace the facility. The estimate for the cost of a new facility is over $5 million, which the committee expects to be funded through a combination of private and public sources, including donations and grants.

The pool, which is open in the summer, sees over 100 daily visitors, and last year, 614 season passes were sold. That’s in addition to the youth swim team, which had over 100 children compete, and over 300 swimming lessons that were offered in 2025.

Looking to the future, the committee said that they are looking primarily at safety updates to the current setup, such as a zero-depth entry and shade areas, rather than adding ‘flashier’ features like additional water slides or a lazy river. The goal is to continue providing opportunities for recreation, competition, and a safe place for people to swim in the greater Boscobel area.

“It’s important to me because I want a safe place for our children and our grandchildren in the future,” Adams said.

Upcoming fundraising events for the committee include a concession stand at Boscobel Flag Football event on May 9th from 12pm-5pm, a bake sale at Community First Bank on May 13th from 8:30am-4pm, Picnic in the Park at Kronshage Park from 4pm-7pm on June 8th, July 13th, August 10th, and September 14th. The committee is also seeking additional members and volunteers to help in the effort to replace the city’s pool.To learn more about the Boscobel Pool Committee’s efforts, to donate money, or to join the committee or volunteer efforts, you can go to the Boscobel Pool’s website, Facebook page, or by contacting Cody Adams, Julie Kendall or Marlys Hennessy.

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