By Nick Nardecchia & Mali Sparhawk
Sopris Stars guest column
The Sopris Stars is a new monthly youth publication powered by The Sopris Sun.
When we were little, summer meant one thing: the Carbondale pool. We both remember taking our first swim lessons there. We’d run down the deck until a lifeguard blew her whistle and yelled, “WALK!” We remember having our birthday parties at the pool, playing Marco Polo in the water and drinking root beer floats on the shady grass.
For us, the pool has never just been about swimming — it’s about connection and community. For as long as we can remember, we have played on the diving board, front flipping and belly flopping off with our classmates. We have met new friends in the changing rooms and in line for the slide. We would lie on the hot cement after the lifeguards forced us out of the pool for the mandatory sunscreen reapplication period.
Now, as high school students serving on the Carbondale Parks and Recreation Commission, we’re seeing that same pool, but from a whole new perspective. We’re watching what it takes to design, plan and fund a full renovation. We get to include our opinions in the process and ensure that youth voices in Carbondale are being heard.
We’ve learned that projects like this don’t just appear out of nowhere. They take years of planning, fundraising and community dedication. To start this project, voters approved a bond. Additional support has come from the Town of Carbondale, the state and the county. So far, local families and organizations have contributed an additional $1 million, highlighting just how much this town cares about its future.
In Carbondale, helping each other is a way of life. Kids know pretty much everyone at their school by first name, every car gets a wave and neighbors water each others’ plants or walk one anothers’ dogs when the other is out of town. A strong community has become the expectation in Carbondale — from First Friday to Mountain Fair to Our Town, One Table, we show up for each other. A new pool will only make this community stronger.
On the Fourth of July, the new pool will host cardboard boat races and hand out watermelon again; kids will have a place to play together while parents get time to relax. The pool will become the backbone of Carbondale, and we, as current high school seniors, cannot wait to have a fun place to catch up with friends. We know this project has been a long process, but it’s important to understand that this isn’t just a pool. It’s an investment in Carbondale’s future.
It’s being built for everyone: families who’ll spend long summer days there, high schoolers who’ll lifeguard or teach swim lessons, adults swimming early laps before work and grandparents joining water aerobics classes.
The new facility will feature a six-lane lap pool, a 2,500-square-foot recreation pool, a large hot tub, a diving board and even a climbing wall. It will be the first all-electric aquatics facility in Colorado, making it an innovative and environmentally responsible project.
There’s still about $500,000 left to raise, and this is where everyone in Carbondale can help. Whether it’s donating, sharing the campaign or simply talking about it, every bit of support matters.
As Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” This is no exception. Everyone’s help is needed for this big project.
When the pool opens in spring 2026, we’ll be graduating from high school and moving away from Carbondale. But we look forward to coming home to see kids jumping into the same water we once did and friends standing at lifeguarding posts, blowing their whistles, just in a better, more sustainable and more accessible space. That’s the kind of progress that makes us proud to call Carbondale home.
Because at the end of the day, the pool has never just been about swimming. It’s about connection, growth and the moments that make
a town feel like a family. We can’t wait to see
the big splash of its
next chapter.
Learn more and contribute at www.carbondalerec.com/aquatics