WEST END, Idaho — A popular parking lot near Quinn’s Pond and the Boise Greenbelt will officially close June 15, as the College of Western Idaho (CWI) prepares to break ground on a new Boise campus. The lot has long provided easy access to the Greenbelt, Esther Simplot Park, and the Boise River—but the project marks the end of a nine-year agreement between CWI and the City of Boise.
For years, the lot located near the intersection of Whitewater Park Boulevard and Main Street has been a go-to spot for families, kayakers, and runners looking for close parking to some of Boise’s most visited outdoor spaces.
“We do fairly often, every other week or so,” said George Lugo, who was at the park with his wife Michelle and daughter Ivory Rose. “It’s going to be a huge inconvenience, especially in the weekends, when everybody….this gets pretty, pretty full, pretty packed.”
The Lugos were heading out to kayak when they heard the news.
“I'd rather have the parking lot,” George Lugo said. “We park here to be able to utilize the Greenbelt… We kind of don't really utilize the shops and foods as often,” Michelle Lugo added.
CWI owns the property and is moving forward with plans to build a four-story academic building, part of a mixed-use campus that will include classrooms, apartments, retail, and restaurants, all with access to the Greenbelt.
“We've known all along that at some point there's going to be a college campus there for the Boise location,” said Doug Holloway, director of Boise Parks and Recreation. “So it's going to have restaurants, shops, those kinds of things there too as well. It's going to be a great enhancement, actually.”
Boise Parks and Rec has leased the parking lot from CWI at no cost since 2016, after the opening of Esther Simplot Park. Holloway said the city had hoped to share the space through the summer, but that arrangement didn’t work with the construction timeline.
“We realize, again, it's a very, very, very popular park during the summertime. So parking is at a major, major premium there,” Holloway said. “I think our alternative is utilizing what you can at Esther Simplot Park and biking in, or using the Greenbelt to either walk in, hike in, bike in, to utilize those areas.”
Construction on the new CWI campus is expected to begin later this month.
