Gabel and Anderson halls are each equipped with pools offering open swim throughout the week to NIU students and local residents.

In an average week, Anderson has about 25 swimmers and Gabel has 15, said David Lochbaum, associate director for Recreation Services. These totals come from a recorded head count lifeguards make.

“Mostly, I see regulars who come in and swim laps when I work,” said Jenna Krause, a sophomore physical education major and Gabel pool lifeguard.

Typically, about eight to 10 people come in during her hour-long shift Wednesday.

People from the outreach programs also will take a trip to the pool and practice kayaking tricks, she said.

Some notice low attendance

“I really think that not many people know about the open swim hours and that’s why people don’t use them more often,” Krause said.

Some students are not even aware NIU has pools available for student use.

“I actually didn’t know that we had pools, but now that I know, I might like to make a trip to use them,” said junior communication major Steve Coughlin.

Some students either do not have time to use them or are not able to use them during their open hours.

“I haven’t personally used the pools, but I think they are a good thing to have on campus. Maybe if I had more time, I would actually use them,” said Hannah Wolff, a senior physical therapy major.

Pools expensive to maintain

The pool in Gabel Hall costs about $2,200 per month to maintain and the pool in Anderson Hall costs about $3,200 per month in maintenance costs. These costs include chemicals and supplies to maintain the pools as well as the cost of labor in maintaining them, said Ruth Murphy, business manager of Building Services.

The money for maintenance comes from the state of Illinois, mainly through taxpayers’ dollars, said Bob Albanese, associate vice president for finance and facilities at NIU.

With the increasingly colder weather, the average number of users is expected to increase, especially with families coming in to use the pools on the weekends, Lochbaum said.

In addition to open swim hours, the pool in Anderson has about four class sections of skin and scuba diving and three or more class sections of swimming during the semester. There also are two outreach programs that use the pool once or twice a week.

Students are admitted free to the pools with a valid NIU OneCard and the pools are available for open swim for a combined total of about 33 and a half hours a week, with 14 of those hours being weekends. In addition, Recreation Services members can purchase semester passes for $10. Non-members can purchase passes for $20 per semester and children 12 and under are free.