The pool at the USF St. Petersburg Waterfront closes every year for the winter season. But this year, when the pool closes on Nov. 27, it will not reopen in the spring.
Plumbing problems have plagued the pool since a leak was detected five years ago. Water from the pool has been spilling into the ground, missing the filter. There is no identifiable point of leakage and the condition continues to worsen.
“It doesn’t make sense to reopen in the spring because of the deteriorating system the structure of the pool is in,” said Zac Oppenheim, assistant director of Student Life and Engagement.
As the Crow’s Nest reported in October, repairing the pool would cost about $500,000, but the fix would not be guaranteed. Replacing the pool with a replica of the current model would cost about $750,000, but the Waterfront wants to build something new that will better serve the student body and take the school “into the future.”
A new leisure pool is projected to cost $1.5 million, but the Waterfront only has access to $1.1 million dollars, which comes from the Capital Improvement Trust Fund. Oppenheim plans to reassess the potential design to make it meet the requirements of both the students and the budget.
He said USFSP also lacks funds to tear up the existing pool.
The damaged plumbing system will sit empty under the pool deck until other plans are made for the space. Oppenheim said the pool will be drained for environmental and health reasons.
“We want to preserve the lounge and social space we have created here,” Oppenheim said. The Waterfront plans to make the pool deck a place for boat repairs, while the current boat repair station on the Waterfront will have lounge chairs for students to interact.
The pool deck will remain an emergency exit for the Coquina Lounge and World of Wings.
Oppenheim said no student or staff member will lose their job at Campus Recreation because of the pool’s closure. Lifeguards and other pool staff will fill other positions within the Campus Recreation department.
The Waterfront intends for new aquatic programming to begin around February and is currently planning an agenda. Some staff members will be reassigned to work with the new aquatic offerings.
“We’re not taking this program away because we want to take this program away,” Oppenheim said.
The pool is more than a recreation space. It hosts the Waterfront’s partners, which include the USF College of Marine Science summer camps, new student orientation and Safety at Sea, a program that teaches sailing safety.
The pool was built after 1939 as a part of the U. S. Maritime Service Training Station, located south of the pool from 1939 to 1950. It has served as a training area for the U.S. Army Corps and the U.S. Air Force, and as a pool for USFSP students.
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