Construction delays have pushed the debut of Iowa City’s new public pool to 2027, the Parks and Recreation Department announced Friday afternoon. Last summer was the first time since Harry Truman was president that there was no outdoor public pool open in Iowa City. City Park Pool, which had been a central part of local […]
Iowa City Parks and Recreation
Posted inCommunity/News
With City Park Pool closed for the summer, it’ll take some creativity to stay cool in Iowa City
Fashion photos by Karla Monroe, featuring Natalie Lawrence and Lexi Wells at the Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center pool in Iowa City. Update: As a result of construction delays, the new City Park pool will not open until 2027, the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department announced on June 5, 2026. The last time […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Kids Market is returning to the Iowa City Farmers Market
Applications are now being accepted online for the Kids Market that will be held on Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Iowa City Farmers Market. Vendors between the ages of 8 and 18 will set up booths on the green space on the Washington Street side of the Chauncey Swan Parking Ramp. In previous years, Kids […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City pools: City Park is seeping, rec center swimmers fight likely closure and Mercer may be heating up
The Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department has recommended closing the 58-year-old pool at Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center, and instead adding a warm water pool at Mercer Park Aquatic Center and Scanlon Gym, as part of its Gather Here Recreation Master Plan. The plan also includes a redesign of City Park pool, introducing […]
Posted inCommunity/News
No swimming at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area ‘until water quality improves’
There will be no swimming permitted at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area, “due to the level of E. Coli detected in Sand Lake,” the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department announced on Thursday afternoon. Sand Lake isn’t the only local swimming spot currently having this problem. Last Friday, Lake Macbride was one of seven eastern Iowa […]
Posted inCommunity/News
What’s next for Iowa City’s aging recreation facilities?
The City Park Pool is reaching its 73rd season. The Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center is now 58 years old, and the Mercer Park Aquatic Center is 34. Iowa City’s recreation facilities are getting old. Since last fall, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department has hosted a series of in-person listening events, community focus […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City Parks and Rec: What do you think of the community garden program?
As winter starts to settle in over Iowa, gardens with newly blooming flowers and ripening vegetables seem a long way off, but Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department is asking people to think about its community garden program. The department has launched an online survey seeking public input on its annual program. “Share thoughts, ideas, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Designing a playground for all in Iowa City
It’s been just over a year now since the Department of Justice reached a settlement agreement with the Iowa City Community School District over the dozen playgrounds that failed to meet ADA requirements. Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (which turned 30 just last year) provides that “no qualified individual with a disability […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Amid a flourishing Iowa skate culture, locals look to improve the Iowa City skatepark
Jeff Keyser fondly remembers he and his friends riding their skateboards past the Iowa City skatepark as it was being built back in 2002. Keyser was in middle school at the time and had already been skateboarding for a few years. He got into skating in the late ’90s after he and his brother got […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Registration for Iowa City community garden plots opens on April 1
It’s only natural that after a year spent mostly indoors, you might want a chance to spend more time outdoors, enjoying nature. Anyone in Iowa City with the urge to garden but not the space to do so can sign up for a community garden plot. Plots are available in four city parks. Many may […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The Robert A. Lee Recreation Center is the cultural nexus of Iowa City, but not all are welcome equally
The Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center, an unimpressive building that looms small in the shadow of The Chauncey, is nevertheless a nexus for the true cultural geography of Iowa City. A relic of mid-century municipal architecture — something of a rarity in Iowa City — it took nearly a decade to realize after a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
A quick guide to birdwatching in eastern Iowa
2020 has been a fraught and fractious year. It seems like every morning we wake to find ourselves beset by a new calamity demanding our full attention. While it is our duty as decent human beings and good citizens to be informed and to put our minds and bodies to the task of creating a […]
