Organization plans mobile swim lessons

Students are going to have to find a new place to swim, as the Lake C. Oxford Natatorium will close down soon.

President Nick Bruno confirmed the closing of the swimming pool, stating that it is highly likely that the pool will be closed permanently at the end of April.

The pool was scheduled to close in 2011, but the YMCA took over the pool until they decided to end their contract with ULM on March 31.

Louisiana has one of the highest rates of unintentional drowning.

The YMCA still wants to teach people and not have to pay an arm and a leg to do it. They are going to go mobile.

YMCA Chief Executive Ronita Ross told KNOE she does not believe the Lake C. Oxford Natatorium would be able to be maintained without being able to break even on the costs.

It is estimated that to keep the pool up-to-date, it would be around $500,000 along with other expenses such as operation expenses.

According to Wayne Brumfield, vice president of student affairs, he will work with CAB and SGA to decide what to do next.

“An idea could be brought up to rebuild it, since it would actually be cheaper to build a new one than to maintain and fix it up,” Brumfield said.

John Newman, a sophomore computer science major, sees little impact in losing the Natatorium.

“Losing the natatorium is not that big of a deal because barely any students went there. I have only went there once myself and there wasn’t anyone there,” John Newman said.

In 2011, students were proposed the idea to build an outdoor complex in Bayou Park to replace the natatorium.

This complex would have included a lazy river, pool and hot tubs.

But students voted not to build the outdoor complex by a marginal percentage.

Brumfield estimates that this complex would have been finished at the end of this month to replace the natatorium if the vote approved of its construction.

For the rest of April, the YMCA, while working with ULM, will prepare a “Mobile Fitness Unit” that will travel around to people with private or public pools and host swimming lessons.

The YMCA staff was unable to comment on how they will be affected by the natatorium closing.