After more than two years of debate, the mayor’s vision of Budlong Pool is entering the bidding process.

Mayor Kenneth Hopkins has commissioned a request for proposal, which is currently being drafted by Saccoccio and Associates, for the new Budlong Pool as his administration has envisioned it with the expectation that bidding begin in mid-January. The final design will closely resemble the one most Cranstonians have seen many times from the mayor’s office, with a new design and several new features, but with the addition of a deeper, expanded lane swimming area to make it more appealing to the needs of those who wished the old pool to remain how it was.

The anticipated $4.75 million project has already begun with city crews clearing debris from the site. Should all go smoothly with the bidding, construction will begin by mid-March and Cranstonians may be able to jump in the new location by the end of the summer.

In the meantime, the city is working on a “wheels to water” program, which will shuttle folks looking for a place to swim to other local pools around Rhode Island.

The mayor’s plan includes a splash pad at Budlong, but funding for that would not be included in the $4.75 million, but instead would come from a $1.5 million federal grant which is awaiting approval in the senate.

Getting the process of the pool to where it is was a long road, fraught with conflict. In particular, a group Cranston Forward lionized the restoration of the pool, rather than its reconstruction. In 2023, the group presented the mayor’s office with a 2000 signature petition demanding that the pool and pool house be maintained in their current form.

The arguments over the pool stretched across column pages in multiple newspapers, as well as 18 city meetings in the course of two years, but according to the mayor’s Chief of Staff Anthony Moretti, the mayor always had the final authority over the decision of how the pool would be rebuilt.