Mayor Walsh Celebrates Re-Opening of Renovated BCYF Draper Pool

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today officially reopened Boston Centers for Youth and Families’ (BCYF) Draper Pool in West Roxbury. The $3.5 million dollar renovation took just over a year to complete and was celebrated by people of all ages on a beautiful fall day.

“This neighborhood gem is now upgraded and ready for current and future BCYF Draper Pool swimmers to enjoy the health and wellness benefits of swimming,” Mayor Walsh said. “I am especially pleased that we were able to utilize natural light and energy-efficient systems which will help reduce energy costs in the future.”     

Community residents, and elected and city officials attended the celebration which started with a speaking program including BCYF Interim Executive Director Christopher Byner, Property and Construction Management Department Deputy Director Joe Mulligan and 40-year pool member Stephen Cesso.  There were also refreshments, programming information, City Hall to Go services and membership sign-ups.  The BCYF Draper Pool Blue Fins Swim Team were the first swimmers in the pool after the Mayor cut the ceremonial ribbon. 

Work on the BCYF Draper Pool began in September of 2013 and included upgrades to mechanical systems, interior pool areas, lobby and locker room areas as well as the exterior including a newly paved and redesigned driveway and parking lot.  A new roof and new dehumidification system were added to help save on future energy costs.  This renovation also has created a new outdoor patio area adjacent to the pool which includes the addition of glass accordion-style doors. This new block of glass doors lightens up the pool area and opens it up to the outdoor patio.

Construction was overseen by the City’s Property and Construction Management Department’s (PCMD) Capital Construction Division.  The Project’s Contractor was Linwood Construction and the Architect was Graham-Meus.

“Our City of Boston Pools are such a fun and integral part of many of our families’ routines no matter what their age and our Swim League engages over 300 young people each year,” said Christopher Byner, Interim Executive Director of BCYF which oversees the pool as well as 34 other facilities.  “We are all looking forward to having this pool open again.”

While the pool was closed, BCYF staff and programming moved to the West Roxbury Educational Complex pool so there was minimal interruption to Draper’s programming.  Aquatics programming offered at the BCYF Draper Pool includes swim lessons for all ages, lap swim, open swim time, swim team, lifeguard training classes and more. 

The adjacent park was renovated and re-opened right as this pool was closing down for its renovation. Renovation of the playground included consolidating a 2-5 age-range play structure and a 5-12 age-range play area into one area with shade, seating and fencing. Seat walls were built for sitting outside the basketball court and at the top of the slope.  The work also helped created a safe parking area for both park and pool users. Total park renovation budget of $676,000 plus the pool renovation budget of $3.5 million gives the residents over $4 million dollars of improvements to their neighborhood pool and park.

As part of our renovations, BCYF added a new flag pole to accompany a plaque embedded in a rock outside and dedicated to lifelong West Roxbury resident and highly decorated veteran Ed Hogan Jr. who passed away four years ago.  Ed taught countless youth how to swim over the years at the BCYF Draper Pool.