Hartke Pool is a historic public swimming pool located at 201 N. Boeke Road in Evansville, Indiana. For more than six decades, the pool served as a popular summertime gathering place for generations of Evansville residents.

History

Hartke Pool opened in 1959 near what would become the Roberts Stadium complex. The pool was named for Vance Hartke, the former Evansville mayor who went on to serve as a United States Senator from Indiana.

During the 1960s and 1970s especially, Hartke became one of Evansville’s best-known places to spend the summer. Families and children from across the city visited the large municipal pool to swim, cool off, and gather with friends.

The facility underwent its last major renovation in 1989. Over the years, Hartke included features such as diving areas, a water slide, and later a splash pad. The water slide was removed in 2014.

Closure

By the 2020s, the aging pool was experiencing increasingly serious maintenance problems. Issues included cracked and uneven concrete, damaged underground pipes, leaks, corrosion of mechanical equipment, and deterioration of the pool itself. The facility also suffered damage during a 2022 storm.

Hartke operated on a limited schedule during the summer of 2023, with the pool generally open only on weekends and its splash pad closed.

In February 2024, the City of Evansville announced that Hartke Pool would not reopen for the summer because of safety concerns. City officials subsequently began studying whether the aging facility could be repaired or whether the property should be used for something different.

As of 2026, Hartke remains closed, and city officials have not announced whether the 66-year-old pool ultimately will be repaired or demolished.

Lost Evansville

For generations of Evansville residents, Hartke Pool was much more than a neighborhood swimming pool. It was one of the city’s quintessential summer gathering places — a place where thousand