CAA students create ideas to help City of Bovill modernize

Perhaps best known as the place locals pass through on their way to Elk River to ride snowmobiles in the winter and four-wheelers during the summer, Bovill is one of those small Idahoan towns where the elevation (2,874 feet) is a larger number than the population (191 per the 2020 census).

But that doesn’t mean the city isn’t interested in making improvements.

“We have a lot of people coming through this area, and it would be nice if we could make some changes to encourage more people to stay here longer,” said Christine Jewell, Bovill’s city clerk and treasurer. “We’re not going to grow into a big city, but I think if we make it a little more user friendly, it would benefit the whole community.”

Jewell, other city officials and local business owners have been sharing ideas with a group from University of Idaho’s College of Art and Architecture (CAA) over the past year about their vision for the city. The students recently presented their ideas to the Bovill group to not only improve some of the city’s infrastructure but also discuss ways to reduce potential wildfire risk.

“I love this project because we get to involve multiple CAA departments as well as our Center for Resilient Communities (CRC),” said Shauna Corry, CAA dean.

Park city

CAA students have worked on city improvement ideas during the Fall 25 and Spring 26 semesters. They participated in several on-site tours and evaluations of potential architectural projects, which culminated with an online presentation in March where city officials discussed the ideas with the students.

Jewell said they’ve been impressed with all of the ideas the U of I groups have delivered, even though some of the bigger projects will likely have to wait.

“Their ideas are stunning — the creativity they showed was amazing,” Jewell said. “But at the end of the day, we’re a small town with limited funds, so we’ll likely start small.”

The two most likely starting points are Caroline Park, a small recreational area next to City Hall, and the RV park on the south side of town.

Grayson Bornhoft, a junior studying landscape architecture, said that in addition to adding more spaces to the RV park, CAA groups created designs for upgrades that would make it more appealing for people to stay there longer, even during the winter.

“We’ve designed a couple of examples of permanent buildings where they could have things like laundry facilities, toilets, showers or locker rooms,” he said. “There’s a lot of long-term visitors to the area, so having a more permanent facility would make things more comfortable for them.”

For larger-scale projects, students included ideas such as complete interior and exterior refurbishment of two of the oldest buildings in town — the Bovill Opera House and the Hotel Bovill, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Opera House, with a storied history as a center of community life and interior murals by “Cowboy” Joe Breckenridge, is a particular focus for the community.

In addition to keeping Bovill’s rural character intact, the student groups also designed ideas to take advantage of seasonal influxes of people to the area.

“One of the ideas they asked about was additional parking because they get a lot of people coming into town for the Fourth of July and other events,” said Pablo Garcia, a senior in architecture. “So one of our designs was to add parking spaces around the Opera House that could also be used for things like a farmer’s market.”

Risky business

Working with the City of Bovill is the latest project for CRC, which was established in 2014 to help strengthen communities in Idaho and the western United States by addressing social, economic and environmental issues through an integrated systems science approach.

The Bovill project is also supported through a National Science Foundation award to CRC titled “Where We Live (W2L).” W2L is focused on adaptation to wildfire, drought, and heat in rural communities.

“We’re assisting Bovill by developing plans for civic improvements that are environmentally wise and will help prevent damage from wildfire,” said Sean Moon, CRC’s community and government liaison. “The great thing is that it also provides a unique opportunity for CAA students to work on a real-world project with direct impact to Idaho.”

With water restrictions already in place as of April 2026 in some parts of Idaho, fire prevention is becoming a year-round topic. In one model, CAA students designed a bioswale around the RV park — channels designed to move stormwater out of the park.

While also preventing flood damage in the park, the bioswale would re-direct the stormwater into a retention pond, where it would absorb into the ground, making the area less prone to fire damage.

Jeremy Ritter, owner of Camas Prairie Winery in Bovill and a member of the Bovill Improvement Group, said the students came up with other fire mitigation ideas, such as removing excess brush around the area and creating water storage solutions that could be used to fight fire.

Ritter, who is also working with a group of CAA art and design students on possible branding ideas for the city, said the student presentations not only got his attention, but made an impression with others in Bovill as well.

“I think what the students have come up with has kind of opened up the eyes of some city council people and shown them what’s possible,” Ritter said. “I think the response has been very positive and hopefully we can use some of these ideas to improve our city.”