diff --git a/src/views/core.clj b/src/views/core.clj
index 491e10a..8d4d114 100644
--- a/src/views/core.clj
+++ b/src/views/core.clj
@@ -136,37 +136,77 @@
   [last-update min-refresh-interval]
   (Thread/sleep (max 0 (- min-refresh-interval (- (System/currentTimeMillis) last-update)))))
 
-(defn worker-thread
+(defn refresh-worker-thread
   "Handles refresh requests."
   [view-system]
   (fn []
-    (when-let [[namespace view-id parameters :as view-sig] (.poll ^ArrayBlockingQueue refresh-queue 60 TimeUnit/SECONDS)]
-      (when (collect-stats?) (swap! statistics update-in [:refreshes] inc))
-      (try
-        (let [view  (get-in @view-system [:views view-id])
-              vdata (data view namespace parameters)
-              hdata (hash vdata)]
-          (when-not (= hdata (get-in @view-system [:hashes view-sig]))
-            (doseq [s (get-in @view-system [:subscribers view-sig])]
-              ((:send-fn @view-system) s [[view-id parameters] vdata]))
-            (swap! view-system assoc-in [:hashes view-sig] hdata)))
-        (catch Exception e
-          (error "error refreshing:" namespace view-id parameters
-                 "e:" e "msg:" (.getMessage e)))))
-    (recur)))
+    (try
+      (when-let [[namespace view-id parameters :as view-sig] (.poll ^ArrayBlockingQueue refresh-queue 60 TimeUnit/SECONDS)]
+        (when (collect-stats?) (swap! statistics update-in [:refreshes] inc))
+        (try
+          (let [view  (get-in @view-system [:views view-id])
+                vdata (data view namespace parameters)
+                hdata (hash vdata)]
+            (when-not (= hdata (get-in @view-system [:hashes view-sig]))
+              (doseq [s (get-in @view-system [:subscribers view-sig])]
+                ((:send-fn @view-system) s [[view-id parameters] vdata]))
+              (swap! view-system assoc-in [:hashes view-sig] hdata)))
+          (catch Exception e
+            (error "error refreshing:" namespace view-id parameters
+                   "e:" e "msg:" (.getMessage e)))))
+      (catch InterruptedException e))
+    (if-not (:stop-workers? @view-system)
+      (recur)
+      (debug "exiting worker thread"))))
 
-(defn update-watcher!
-  "A single threaded view update mechanism."
+(defn refresh-watcher-thread
+  [view-system min-refresh-interval]
+  (fn []
+    (let [last-update (:last-update @view-system)]
+      (try
+        (if (can-refresh? last-update min-refresh-interval)
+          (refresh-views! view-system)
+          (wait last-update min-refresh-interval))
+        (catch InterruptedException e)
+        (catch Exception e
+          (error "exception in views e:" e "msg:" (.getMessage e))))
+      (if-not (:stop-refresh-watcher? @view-system)
+        (recur)
+        (debug "exiting refresh watcher thread")))))
+
+(defn start-update-watcher!
+  "Starts threads for the views refresh watcher and worker threads that handle
+   view refresh requests."
   [view-system min-refresh-interval threads]
-  (swap! view-system assoc :last-update 0)
-  (.start (Thread. (fn [] (let [last-update (:last-update @view-system)]
-                            (try
-                              (if (can-refresh? last-update min-refresh-interval)
-                                (refresh-views! view-system)
-                                (wait last-update min-refresh-interval))
-                              (catch Exception e (error "exception in views e:" e  "msg:"(.getMessage e))))
-                            (recur)))))
-  (dotimes [i threads] (.start (Thread. ^Runnable (worker-thread view-system)))))
+  (if (and (:refresh-watcher @view-system)
+           (:workers @view-system))
+    (error "cannot start new watcher and worker threads until existing threads are stopped")
+    (let [refresh-watcher (Thread. ^Runnable (refresh-watcher-thread view-system min-refresh-interval))
+          worker-threads  (mapv (fn [_] (Thread. ^Runnable (refresh-worker-thread view-system)))
+                                (range threads))]
+      (swap! view-system assoc
+             :last-update 0
+             :refresh-watcher refresh-watcher
+             :stop-refresh-watcher? false
+             :workers worker-threads
+             :stop-workers? false)
+      (.start refresh-watcher)
+      (doseq [^Thread t worker-threads]
+        (.start t)))))
+
+(defn stop-update-watcher!
+  "Stops threads for the views refresh watcher and worker threads."
+  [view-system]
+  (swap! view-system assoc
+         :stop-refresh-watcher? true
+         :stop-workers? true)
+  (if-let [^Thread refresh-watcher (:refresh-watcher @view-system)]
+    (.interrupt refresh-watcher))
+  (doseq [^Thread worker-thread (:workers @view-system)]
+    (.interrupt worker-thread))
+  (swap! view-system assoc
+         :refresh-watcher nil
+         :workers nil))
 
 (defn log-statistics!
   "Run a thread that logs statistics every msecs."