Malvern Hills Pool Supporters,

Last night, City Council approved a budget increase for the Malvern Hills Pool project with a vote of 5-2 (Smith and Mosley voted no).

Here are the details of the resolution:

"The scope for the original design contract included: planning, budgeting, designing, public
meeting attendance and preparing construction documents for a $2,000,000.00 pool and building
renovations.

Updated construction estimates for the pool and the pool building are anticipated to exceed this
budget, totaling $4,300,000.00 for construction.

A public meeting was held on 9/23 to share design with the public.

Feedback received at the public meeting and from the online project page indicated the
community would like more space in the 5’ and deeper zone and a sloped entry.

Additional community outreach was held on September 30th and October 1st at the West
Asheville Tailgate Market and RAD Farmers Market, respectively.

The project is currently on schedule to conclude the design portion mid- 2026. Construction is
anticipated to begin thereafter and be completed late 2027."

Tonight's vote allows the project to keep moving forward and much-needed changes to be made to the design.

Thank you to everyone who showed up to the public engagement meetings and who participated in our letter writing campaign asking City Council not to shrink the pool.

The Rebuild Team met with Mayor Esther Manheimer and Assistant Director of APR Pete Wall last week to discuss the overwhelming community feedback that the redesign of the pool does not reflect the pool's historic footprint and usage. They have taken this feedback to heart, and we are hopeful that the revised design will incorporate a shallow end for little kids and a cannonball zone of 5-8 foot depth for teens.

Please use your voice and continue to email City Council. We were told if the Bond passed, that Malvern Hills Pool would be rebuilt -- the existing pool, not a smaller, shallower version of the pool.

This is 90 year infrastructure. We need our pool restored so it can serve our community -- everyone in our community -- for the next 90 years.

Warmly,
Sally and the Rebuild Team

Brooke Heaton's excellent Letter to the Editor: ("Restore true deep end for Malvern Hills Pool")