ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Public swimming is on track to return to West Asheville. Asheville City Council on Tuesday signed off on a $4.4 million construction deal to replace the shuttered pool at Malvern Hills Park, and the city expects it to open for the 2028 season.
The vote amends the city’s existing contract with Harper General Contractors Inc. The work covers a brand-new municipal pool plus a renovation of the park’s pool house. Council also gave the city manager authority to approve change orders on the job up to a $560,000 contingency. Money for the project comes from the 2024 Parks General Obligation Bond voters approved.
The old Malvern Hills pool has sat closed since the end of the 2023 summer, after the city concluded it was beyond repair. Then in 2024 Tropical Storm Helene knocked out the Recreation Park pool as well, leaving Asheville with just one city-owned public pool.
The road to this vote was bumpy. West Asheville residents pushed back hard on earlier designs for the new pool, and the city revised the plans in response. Several residents who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting said they liked how the final version turned out.
D. Tyrell McGirt, who directs Asheville Parks and Recreation, said reaching construction moves the city closer to bringing swimming back to the neighborhood, and he credited residents whose feedback during public engagement shaped the final design. He called the pool an amenity that generations of Asheville residents have used.
The pool contract was one of several items at the Oct. 27 meeting, where council also approved funding agreements for homelessness prevention and accepted a federal grant for wildland firefighting gear.
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