Howard Hopkins Memorial Pool set to open after extended delays

LEAVENWORTH — After facing a number of delays, the Howard Hopkins Memorial Pool is slated to open on July 7.

“This year, opening day for the pool has been a bit of a 'moving target'. Several factors led to July 7—including pool operations and functionality, health and safety requirements, staff availability and training, and the overall readiness of system components,” said City of Leavenworth Communications Manager Kara Raftery.

This spring, the pool underwent a number of repairs, including resurfacing the pool building floor, addressing recurring coating failure in the zero-entry area, upgrading electrical components, and replacing the filtration system. Project complications have caused the opening date to be pushed six weeks after the usual Memorial Day weekend opening.

The opening will come nearly two weeks after the Leavenworth Swim Team’s (LST) first meet of the season, and just three days before the Leavenworth pool is scheduled to host a meet. According to Kristin Effland, an LST Board Member and mom of two swimmers, the team has missed out on three weeks of swim practice at the pool. 

“We've kind of scrambled around, and all of the other pools around have been really generous with what they can offer, but they mostly have full schedules themselves with their own swim teams,” said Effland.

Effland said the team was able to schedule a handful of practices in East Wenatchee and Cashmere, but the logistics made attendance challenging. Without much practice, Effland’s son was nervous about performing well at their first meet on June 26.

“It's really sad because it's already a very short season. It's only a six week swim team season as it is, and so they really will have missed out on a lot by the time the pool opens,” said Effland.

Last year, opening delays from last-minute repairs cost the team two weeks of early-season practice, though they managed to start the regular season on schedule. Having known since August that a filter needed replacement, Effland expressed disappointment that repairs weren't completed sooner, especially given that this year's delays are even more severe.

“It's a safety issue around here…They are literally the kids that sometimes pull other people from other towns out of the river when they are struggling because they have this six week swim team with the two week swim team prep, and they become really strong swimmers,” said Effland, noting that the origin of Howard Hopkins Memorial Pool was intended to reduce river drownings.

Raftery explained that designs for the projects began in Nov. 2024, and contractors were selected in Feb. 2025 for work that could not be completed in-house.

“Despite the City's effort to mitigate manufacturing delays by purchasing key equipment in January, supply chain issues impacted the timeline, with critical materials not arriving on site until mid-May,” said Raftery.

The city originally set a June 13 opening date, which was delayed once more due to an installation error on the new filtration system. During the June 24 city council meeting, City Engineer Brantley Bain said that the city ran into challenges getting the original contractor to fix the error, saying that they had been “non-responsive.” A new contractor was brought in to complete the work.

The opening day announcement included that the date was “pending any unforeseen hiccups.” Raftery explained that the primary concern was outstanding work needed to be done to have a fully functioning filtration system. While plumbing repairs are complete and filters are in working order, some electrical and programming remained.

“Even with the potential for unforeseen challenges or ‘hiccups’ to arise, we’re cautiously optimistic and incredibly excited to have a confirmed opening date for the pool this summer,” said Raftery.

To mitigate the delay, the city is planning to extend the season as far into September as staffing and weather allow, operating seven days a week. The season pass rates will also be discounted by approximately 40 percent to reflect the delayed opening. 

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media