New Recreational Pool

[Water Pony]

Does it strike any one else as a bad idea that the much needed new Recreational Center for students will include a small, 6 lane 25 yard pool for club sports and fitness?

Given the condition of Perkins Natatorium, the above move stands to defer or more likely pre-empt the possibility we could provide a better aquatic center for our Men's and Women's Swim and Diving Teams. Land use is tight and capital limited to address this immediate challenge while also accommodating the needs of students in a more comprehensive swim center. How can we revisit this decision? I am afraid if we build this small pool it will have a negative impact on our teams for competition, training and recruiting.

The hope was that if Dallas got the 2012 Oylmpics, we would build a world class facility. That was a long shot. What is Plan B? This recreational pool may in a practical sense prevent a Plan B: a long course pool and diving well. Intramurals, fitness, club sports, etc. would easily be served, but not the swimming and diving teams with current decision. This is even more important with the emergence of our nationally ranked women's team. :hmm:

Ideas?

[abezontar]

Emergence of our nationally ranked women's team?!? Haven't they been nationally ranked since God was born? If anything the new pool will keep the students from fighting with the swim team over access to perkins. As it is now, any swimming activity has to be done through at perkins and it is hard to get into the schedule now. If anything this should free up time more time at perkins for the swim teams use.

[Water Pony]

Your make my point. Swim & Diving Team is stucked in a very old facility and, unfortunantly, that probably restricts other student access. But adding a small, limited use pool which ignores that our Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Teams would put us at risk in maintaining our rich tradition in these sports. Help both students and the student-athletes at the same time.

By focusing only on the genral student body, we will miss a much better opportunity to fix and serve both recreational and varsity needs. There isn't a practical option, if we spend money and use scarce space for only one constituent.

<small>[ 11-07-2003, 09:03 AM: Message edited by: Water Pony ]</small>

[abezontar]

What would be your plan B then? In my mind they need to be separate. Yes we need a new swimming and diving facility for the team, but studies that the university has done show that a new recreational facility dedicated to the use of the general population will do more to enhance the image of the school for prospective students than a nationally ranked swim team. Don't get me wrong I think we should do what needs to be done to keep the program as a top notch program, but the new recreational facility is long long overdue.

[Water Pony]

I agree 100% but Plan B should be collaboration between Recreational Sports and the Athletic Depart. A new swimming and diving complex needs to be designed and built into the new Rec Center as it is in most universities today. Redundant facilities are more expensive and use our limited space/land poorly. We are landlocked on campus as we add academic, student and athletic facilities with great regularilty.

A larger, long course (50Meters)pool which is 25 yards wide (college competiton length) would easily accommodate Men's and Women's Training and Competiion needs as well as Water Polo, fitness, intramurals, etc. simulanteously. When not used for that purpose, early morning workouts and training can use the long course length as required. Add to that a traditional diving well, (also 25 yards wide) and the flexibility is even greater. A pool like that would accommodate teaching, kayaking and hosting conference swim and diving championships in one comprehensive solution.

:showoff:

The current Perkins Natatorium is 25 yards long with only six lanes (you need at least eight) and it has no diving well. Our outdoor pool would also be available for more recreational needs, especially in the fall, spring and summer months. It doesn't work for competiton or serious training in the winter months.

Therefore, collaboration between all forces with one investment VS two new facilities (or more likely, re-empting the possibility of ever building a facility for the Men's and Women's teams might be lost for a long, long time, if not forever on our campus.)

<small>[ 11-07-2003, 11:12 AM: Message edited by: Water Pony ]</small>

[abezontar]

Understood, but the key thing is where are you going to get the money to do that? As it is the new recreational facility is going to be funded by an even higher increase in tution, (so the students are having to pay for the new facility because no one wanted to donate for that) where would we get the money to build an even larger facility to accomodate the larger pools?

<small>[ 11-07-2003, 11:39 AM: Message edited by: abezontar ]</small>

[Water Pony]

Friends and Alumni of SMU Swimming & Diving are a source that can be approached and relied on to contribute toward the gap between the two models. This group actually paid for the outdoor (A.R. Barr Pool) years ago.

One hope was for Dallas Olympic Bid for 2012 to be the funding source, but that was a very long shot, since Dallas was going to be a tough sell (temperatures in August would have been brutal on the athletes).

[FloridaMustang]

It's amazing to me how public universities get things built so much cheaper than SMU seems to. You people raise 500 million.. where did it all go? My current university raised about 60 million over the same time period and has already built 3 new buildings and renovated another with that money... and these buildings are even bigger than that of SMU's because they need to have a capacity for more students.

How the heck does 10,000 people paying $31,000? a year not pay for all this, especially after including all those mega donations...

Perkins should be razed and another dorm should be built in its place. The new complex should be in the rec center, such as WP suggested. It just makes sense, and places all the athletic facilities even closer together. The money should be there... hopefully the brains behind all this are as competent as they should be.

Hopefully SMU will not continue making the right comittments using the wrong tools.

<small>[ 11-09-2003, 10:23 AM: Message edited by: FloridaMustang ]</small>

[abezontar]

I'm not sure what your new school is, but SMU isn't exactly slacking when it comes to building right now. They have built the Linbrary Annex, Dedman Life Sciences Building, The Junkins Electrical Engineering Building, The Meadows Museusm, Ford Stadium, and the Sports Center, adn two additional parking garages that were required by Highland Park. I don't remember because it has been too long since I have seen a map, of the planned expansion, but I don't think they are done yet. In addition, they have renovated at least 7 of the dorms, and are expanding the Dedman rec center (although I don't know if it is considered part of the campaign or not, well, I know the rec center isn't but I'm not sure about the dorms).

[FloridaMustang]

Haha, you missed my point. Of course SMU is building a ton right now. I was there for the Junkins building. Had one of Gosney's great classes in there. And Blanton was 1/2 done when I left.

My point was that SMU throws money around like its nothing. Do they even use competitive bidding? If my school (which i hate might i add), had 500 million bucks to spend, they could renovate the entire campus.. and its about the same size as SMU.

The SMU buildings certainly are top-notch though I miss that campus, I just wish I could have had a better experience. It's what you make of it I suppose and I refused to adjust.

Eh well !
Go Stangs!

[abezontar]

Yes, they used competitive bidding, the company I work for now had several unsuccesful attempts at getting some of the HVAC work for the project. There is a lot that goes into the final determination of cost to construct a building. You could have two buildings that are almost exactly the same, but differences in code, land price etc. can have a dramatic impact on the final price, as can the type of systems used in the building. I could put together a HVAC package for a building at SMU that would be really cheap to build, but wouldn't connect with their central plant, and end up costing SMU more money to operate in the long run, then a more expensive system would initially.