Friday, March 27, 2009
Plans for a new aquatic center at the University are being put on hold, with budget cuts for fiscal year 2010 possibly totalling more than $20 million.
Last year, when coalition group United Students ran with the platform to create a new aquatic center, the University was in a stable financial situation. Now, because of the poor economy, the University faces the prospect of laying off faculty and eliminating funding for campus programs.
Adam McGonigle, student body president, had proposed the idea for new aquatic center and pool. He said the University had decided 2009 was not the proper time to bring the aquatic center to a student vote. McGonigle also said the University and Kansas Athletics officials would sign a letter of intent stating that because of current fiscal constraints, they would delay the aquatic center addition to the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center until Fall 2011.
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THREE FLOOR PLANS:
Option #1 would be the most basic plan, with a 50-meter pool and indoor aquatic spaces, at an estimated cost of $17 million in student recreation fees and $13 million from Athletics Department funding.
Option #2 would include a 50-meter pool, indoor aquatic spaces and outdoor aquatic spaces at an estimated cost of $19.1 million in student recreation fees and $17.3 million from Athletics Department funding.
Option #3 would have the most amenities with a 50-meter pool, a separate diving well and both indoor and outdoor aquatic spaces at an estimated cost of $19 million in student recreation fees and $19.2 million from Athletics Department funding.
Proposed pool floor plan #1.
Proposed pool floor plan #2.
Proposed pool floor plan #3.
“We considered the appropriateness of the project at this time and decided it was necessary to delay the project,” McGonigle said. “We could not, as students, contribute to an aquatic center when professors at the same time are being laid off.”
McGonigle said $18,000 was spent on hiring a consultant to design three potential floor plans for the University. The funding came from a recreation center account that had been specifically designated for the project.
Each of the plans would remove the outdoor basketball courts and build the aquatics center southeast of the building. McGonigle said the three different options would vary in price, but costs would be divided proportionally between the students and the department.
Sandi Differding, Lawrence junior, and Robinson Center pool manager, said she thought there would be plenty of student support in 2011 when the new aquatics center proposal would be voted on.
Robinson currently has a 25-meter pool, built in 1980, and a 25-yard competition pool and diving well, built in 1969.
“The new pool would make the students happy,” Differding said. “Robinson is still a good pool and serves its purpose, but it’s getting pretty old and it would be nice to have a recreational area that isn’t strictly limited to a pool with just lane ropes.”
McGonigle said the student body president for the 2011-2012 school year would be given all the floor plans, cost estimates, a general idea where funding was coming from and how the partnership was going to work.
“The economic aspect supersedes this project,” McGonigle said. “We’re just waiting for the right time and it’s disappointing, but it would not be the responsible thing to do right now.”
Mike Harrity, assistant athletics director for student athlete development and community relations, said any time a student leader like McGonigle came to the Athletics Department with an idea, it would listen and support it if it could.
“It’s really been so impressive to see the impact that one student can have on a campus our size,” Harrity said. “He’s been phenomenal in his research, in exploring the whole issue, the feasibility of it, and when he came here and said the delay was the best thing for the student body, we fully agreed and supported him.”
Harrity also said his department was always trying to raise funds and it had come a long way under Lew Perkins’ direction.
“This delay in the project does give us more time and that’s always a good thing,” Harrity said.
Despite the postponement, McGonigle said he had complete confidence that the project would happen.
“When those senate leaders come together in 2011, and look at what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve completed, they’re going to be able to move forward with this project swiftly and an aquatic center will be built on this campus,” McGonigle said.
— — Edited by Justin Leverett
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