The University of North Georgia’s Gainesville campus has permanently announced the closure of its on-campus pool due to “maintenance issues”.
According to the school’s newspaper, UNG Vanguard, in May 2022, an audit and inspection was done on the pool by Counsilman-Hunsaker, an aquatic planning and design consultant firm. The inspection revealed numerous issues with the largest coming from an outdated aluminum liner which estimated the pool losing 1 inch of water per day. The pool had been on campus for 56 years.
The inspection suggested that the pool be completely replaced as the pool was at the “end of its life.” A new pool was estimated to cost $900,000.
According to Vanguard, Ken Harrison, Associate Director of Campus Recreation and Wellness posed the question “Do we have enough interest in aquatics to build another swimming pool?”
Plans have been proposed to replace the area the swimming pool took up with space for an expanded fitness center while the current fitness center would become home to Kinesiology classrooms/labs and storage space.
The pool was officially permanently closed on December 16th, 2023, at the conclusion of the fall semester.
The University of North Georgia is not home to a varsity swimming and diving team. The athletic department has a total of 13 sports, five on the men’s side, seven on the women’s side, and rifle which is listed as a “mixed sport.”
Despite not having a varsity swimming and diving team, the school’s campus recreational and wellness website lists “Swim Meet” under their fall sports offerings for intramural sports.
The University of North Georgia-Gainesville campus is home to more than 6,500 commuter students, according to the school’s website. The Gainesville campus is the largest of the school’s six campuses.
The Dahlonega campus is home to the Memorial Hall Pool but according to the school’s website is “open for events only” and does not have recreational swim hours. The Cumming campus has partnered with Cumming Aquatic Center to provide discounted rates for UNG students, staff, and faculty.
The Frances Meadows Aquatic Center is just 10 minutes up the road. The area will not be lacking with the closure.
When non aquatic people are involved in aquatic decisions, it never endss well for aquatics.
Even including lockerrooms, I find it hard to believe they can fit all of the below in the amount of space the pool took up.
Many a memory made and retained at this pool. Sad to see the location be lost, but even thirty years ago, it had it’s issues (the chlorine was almost always high and the start / finish end had about 2.5 feet of clearance (how this has functioned with the evolution of underwaters, I shudder to think)). Nevertheless, a solid facility and hosted a LOT of age-group meets.
I wonder if the maintenance has been neglected over time. That’s a sign that aquatics are in the back burner and will be cut one day.
It’s all Grant House’s fault. /s
I learned to swim there in the 70s and used it throughout college. Really hate others will miss that