DeKALB | Gabel Pool will not be reopening in the near future.

Gabel Pool closed after the 2017 spring semester because of its poor state.

There was rust coming out of the pipes into the pool, the filtration system was bad and the tiles were falling off, said Sandi Carlisle, Recreation and Wellness director. Recreation and Wellness and the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education are still trying to decide what to do with the empty pool space in Gabel Hall.

Carlisle said it was decided that fixing the pool would cost more money than what recreational services had and what they could generate from it.

“We started to see the deterioration of the pool, and we needed to cut expenses,” Carlisle said. “We looked at student participation and, for the amount of money it’s going to take to reinvest to get the pool operating again, we couldn’t justify the cost.”

Carlisle said Recreation and Wellness is conversing with Chad McEvoy, Kinesiology and Physical Education Department chair, about finding a time for open pool hours at Anderson Pool so students are able to swim.

”Anderson pool is used heavily, so we’re trying to figure out if there are some windows of opportunity where we can offer some limited hours,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle said she and McEvoy have been able to find two hours a week for students to swim at the Anderson Pool that will run on a trial basis, but the times and days of an open swim have yet to be confirmed. She said she hopes a second pool will be an option in the future.

“We would hope at some point that we do have an aquatic space because we do believe that aquatics should be part of our recreation options,” Carlisle said.

Spokesperson Joe King said Anderson Pool is used for classes offered by the Kinesiology and Physical Education Department, for limited campus recreation classes and a limited amount of open swim hours for faculty, staff and the community.

King said when the campus offered open sessions at Gabel, they averaged about five students per session.

“It’s very expensive to run an aquatics program, so even if the pool was opened, I think the decision had been made that they couldn’t justify the cost of it,” King said.

King said Recreation and Wellness and the Kinesiology and Physical Education Department are trying to get students back in the water.

“There are students out there who would really like the opportunity to swim, and [we] are working together to try and solve that,” King said.

Luis Cantu, senior communications media major, took a scuba course in Anderson Pool during the fall 2017 semester. Cantu said the pool looked nice and was well-kept.

“Every time we had left the pool, we had to make sure everything was cleaned up, so they definitely made sure it was kept clean,” Cantu said.

Cantu said he thinks it would be better to leave the pool closed because of the amount of money it would cost to reopen Gabel Pool.

“We really don’t have a swim team and having another pool here wouldn’t necessarily do anything for us,” Cantu said.