DENVER — Denver's Aztlan Pool will not reopen for the 2027 summer season after a massive leak forced its closure in June, but the city said it's working to fast-track plans for a new, more modern facility using $15 million in voter-approved bond funding.
Denver Parks and Recreation shut down the Aztlan Pool in June after staff said crews discovered a massive leak during pre-season maintenance, causing the pool to lose more than 16,000 gallons of water a day.
Internal city emails obtained by Denver7 through a public records request show the pool was leaking for four days during a water tightness test in May, leading to a loss of more than 58,000 gallons of water, roughly half the pool's capacity.
The emails between Denver Parks and Rec staff also reveal the pool was leaking last year, but work on the main drain provided a temporary fix for the 2025 season.
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This pool closure left Sunnyside families without their neighborhood spot to cool down for the entire summer.
"This [rec] center is like the heart of this area," said Brigitte Cordova. "It was really, really a bummer that they found out that the pool’s not going to be open.”
The city said it had already planned to replace the Aztlan Pool using $15 million from the voter-approved Vibrant Denver Bond. Because of the leak, officials said they are now moving faster on that process.
Patrick Riley, the Program Director of the Vibrant Denver Bond Office, said the city is in the process of selecting a designer after getting bids back at the end of last week.
"When this leak happened, it was unfortunate and obviously not the plan. So we wanted to move up the procurements. Originally, this was supposed to go out for design in October, and we instead were able to move it into July. So we've already jumped a couple months ahead," Riley said.
He said the city wants to hear from neighbors before any design decisions are made.
"What we'd like to see out of a new pool here is zero entry, some more water play, aquatic play elements, potentially a new kiddie pool, splash pad elements," Riley said. "There's a lot of people that use this asset, and we'd like to get feedback from the community."
Riley said the pool could potentially be open by the 2028 summer season, but that is not a set timeline.
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