It can be easy to see the veins of power in Boise. The Capitol. The Idaho Supreme Court. The Ada County administration building on Front Street. The Zions Bank tower.
But one of the biggest nerve centers of the Idaho elite is an easily overlooked building along the Boise River Greenbelt and buried amid a grove of trees off River Street: the Arid Club.
The club has been home to generations of Idaho’s famous change makers, including members of the Albertson, Oppenheimer and Simplot families. Familiar local developers, lawyers and businessmen have been members, including families such as the Carleys, Troxells, Days and Dalys.
But after around 40 years on the Greenbelt near Payette Brewing, the club is welcoming both new and old members as it prepares for an extensive $1 million-plus renovation.
Elizabeth Langley, the club’s board president and CEO of Boise’s Echelon Group, said the remodel would include cosmetic and some structural changes.
The renovations include a redesigned bar area, co-working spaces on the second floor for members to work from and a new dining room. Plans call for opening a wall in the back with windows looking onto the Greenbelt while a chandelier modeled after the Boise River sits above.