The Astoria hot springs will offer hot soaking pools, a leisure pool, a kids pool, decks, lawns, picnic space and hammock setups. An adjacent 98-acre passive park will provide further outdoor recreation space for families.
This historic photo shows the former Astoria Hot Springs along the Snake River.
COURTESY PHOTO
The Astoria hot springs will offer hot soaking pools, a leisure pool, a kids pool, decks, lawns, picnic space and hammock setups. An adjacent 98-acre passive park will provide further outdoor recreation space for families.
The Astoria hot springs have been closed since 1999. This weekend the public is invited to come back for the first time.
The Trust for Public Land will host a “Day on the Land” to celebrate the approval of its plan to develop the site into a public park. The free event is on the site of the future Astoria Hot Springs Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
“Our goal is really twofold,” the Trust’s Paige Byron said. “It’s to celebrate the progress we’ve made with so many supporters and volunteers and community members who’ve been involved over the last few years.
“It’s also to introduce the broader community to the park and provide an opportunity for people to get onto the site, so they can understand better what we are trying to do through the revitalization of Astoria,” she said.
Tours guides will help visitors envision the future park. The Jackson Hole Children’s Museum will organize activities for kids of all ages, Jackson Hole Public Art will lead an interactive art activity and Teton Raptor Center will show off its birds of prey. Yoga classes from Medicine Wheel Wellness are planned throughout the day.
Local musician Kristen Sell will provide entertainment for the event, and food will be available from Street Tacos and the Momo Shack. Proceeds from sales of Melvin Brewing’s beers will benefit the park’s $5 million fundraising campaign.
Designs for the hot springs park show hot soaking pools, a leisure pool, a kids pool, decks, lawns, picnic space and hammock setups. Plans call for an adjacent 98-acre park with walking trails, multiuse pathways, playground areas and event spaces. Teton County commissioners approved the final development plans for the park in July.
Byron hopes people from Teton County and neighboring communities like Alpine will attend.
“We’re targeting anybody that may be interested in learning more about the park,” Byron said. “Certainly, families are a big focus, but also a lot of folks that remember the old Astoria and have heard rumors about what’s going on, but haven’t had a chance to learn firsthand what we’re hoping to accomplish.”
Byron said the Trust for Public Land aims to complete the fundraising campaign by early 2018 and break ground in the spring. 
Allie Gross covers Teton County government. Originally from the Chicago area, she joined the News&Guide in 2017 after studying politics and Spanish at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
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