The old pool at Sun Valley Park is coming down. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced Friday that demolition work has officially started at the southwestern Louisville park, marking the first visible step toward a rebuilt aquatics facility city leaders have been promising for months.
Greenberg shared the news in a repost of a Louisville Metro Parks post on X. The Louisville Metro Parks post said that “big changes are underway at Sun Valley” and that demolition of the old pool “has officially begun,” according to Mayor Craig Greenberg
The teardown follows months of planning. Back in May, WAVE 3 News reported that plans for a new pool and pool house at Sun Valley Park were officially underway, with District 14 Councilwoman Crystal Bast taking on funding for the project with help from Greenberg. The station described the goal as “a completely new pool facility with a front entrance, updated changing rooms, restrooms and a space for families.”
Construction Timeline Points Toward 2027
The station's report also laid out a timeline: construction was expected to begin after the 2026 pool season wrapped up, with the new facility slated to open in 2027. That lines up with Friday's demolition news, suggesting the project is now moving into its next phase on schedule.
Sun Valley's pool has carried outsized importance for Louisville swimmers in recent years. Back in May 2024, Louisville Public Media reported that residents had just two public pool options for the summer, Fairdale and Sun Valley, according to Louisville Public Media, which also places the park at 6505 Bethany Lane. With so few citywide options available during that stretch, a rebuilt Sun Valley facility carries extra weight for families on that side of town.
Funding Figures Don't Quite Match Up
Exactly how much the Sun Valley project costs remains murky. A Louisville government budget proposal cited $4.5 million for a new, renovated Sun Valley Pool, framing it alongside the city's prior opening of the Algonquin Park pool and the forthcoming Camp Taylor Pool, per LouisvilleKY.gov. A separate mid-year budget adjustments document from the same city government source instead lists $1.5 million earmarked for the Sun Valley Pool. The two figures have not been reconciled, and it is not clear from available city records whether they reflect different funding stages, different scopes of work, or separate fiscal years.
The Sun Valley project arrives amid a broader wave of aquatics investment across Louisville. The city previously touted a $6.2 million investment in the Camp Taylor facility. Taken together, the projects suggest city hall has made rebuilding its aging public pools a recurring priority, even as the specific dollar figures tied to Sun Valley remain unsettled.
For now, the clearest fact on the ground is the one Greenberg highlighted Friday: the old Sun Valley pool is being torn out, and the neighborhood's next pool season hinges on what rises in its place by 2027.
