The Anderson Hall Pool, built in 1964 as part of Anderson Hall, closed permanently in September as a result of low participation in its open swim programs.
The closing of the Anderson Pool is unfortunate because it leaves students with no pool option on campus and no free pool option in DeKalb.
Students deserve to have a pool option on campus, not just for exercise but for recreational purposes as well.
A petition has been created to reopen Anderson Pool and, at the time of publication, has over 300 signatures.
Emily Brier, a graduate student getting her masters in public administration, created the petition to reopen Anderson Pool.
“So, we have a list of stated demands at the bottom of our petition,” Brier said. “The first one would be to commit to a specific date to establish funding, the second is develop a rotation or lifeguards and the third is to establish an advertising plan to include the presence of Anderson Pool and future communications through the recreation department and orientation, as a lack of knowledge prevented usage from the student bodies.”
Similarly, Gabel Hall also used to have a pool, but it was closed in 2017 due to its poor state and it being too costly to operate and maintain.
While there are other pool options available in DeKalb, such as the YMCA or Hopkins Pool, they cost money to attend. In addition, Hopkins Pool is currently being renovated and will not be reopened until June of 2026.
As for the YMCA, it has a membership where students could use the pool there, but they would have to pay for that, which students may not want to do.
Brier emphasized how NIU did not advertise Anderson Pool as much as they should have.
“So, in 2019 when I was admitted to NIU as a freshman, one of the first things I asked my orientation leader, who was a student herself at NIU, was if NIU had a swimming pool. And she told me no, despite the fact that in 2019 Anderson pool was perfectly functional and operational,” Brier said. “So the point I want to make with that story of how I became or how I asked if NIU had a pool my freshman year, but was told no by an orientation leader who should have known NIU had a pool is to point out that NIU does not advertise its amenities very well, and especially not in terms of it having a pool.”
The petition has been advertised by several posters around campus and NIU Discord servers. The Young Democratic Socialists of America at NIU sponsored the poster.
Alexander Hart-Gilbert, a senior kinesiology major, believes it’s essential to reopen Anderson pool to help serve as rehab for certain injuries.
“I think it’s essential, you know, for all students, but I think it’s especially so for like, those that are athletes or those that are going through injuries and stuff, because pools are a great low to no impact way of rehabbing a certain injury, especially if you don’t want to be putting a lot of weight on let’s say your legs,” Gilbert said. “That’s a good way to recover from, like, lower body stuff. But I think it’s just beneficial to all, regardless of, you know, age, gender, whatever, it may be.”
NIU should consider reopening Anderson pool in order to provide a free amenity to students.
