Pixabay

ULM is known for the beautiful flowing waterway that our campus is built upon, but it’s not one for swimming. 

Our school is recognized internationally for its stupendous water ski team and we have many other water activities available to the average student from kayaking to fishing. But one thing that the campus is lacking, despite being known for our water sports, is simply a pool. 

With a swimming pool available on campus, ULM would open a door to many more recreational activities being available to students.

Not many students know, but alumni and some faculty may recall that ULM once had a natatorium, one of the only indoor pools in the area. It was scheduled to close during the summer of 2011, due to a reallocation of funding voted on by the student body. 

According to the university, it required an estimated cost of $250,000 to operate the building. The YMCA took over the pool until they decided to end their contract with ULM on March 31, 2014. The chief executive officer of the YMCA claimed that she did not believe that pool would be able to break even with costs due to the lack of activity.

It is understandable why the pool was closed down in the past, however I believe that there is more of a need for the pool now. With there being very few places to swim in the Monroe-West Monroe area, community members could purchase memberships to have access to the swimming facility. 

The natatorium could also be rented out for recreational activities, such as swimming lessons, palates, and parties. Most importantly, I think the facilities could earn revenue by being used for sporting events, such as swim meets for high school, college and national swim teams. With consistent use, the pool could potentially earn enough revenue to break even with the costs of operation.

Not to compare our beautiful bayou campus to another college, but for reference, Louisiana Tech is able to maintain a pool in a smaller town. 

The Lambright Sports and Wellness center is available to members of the community for a fee and rents the pool out daily for different classes, events, and birthdays. 

Although this might be due to the fact that Louisiana Tech’s tuition is slightly more than that of ULM’s. A solution to this without exponentially increasing tuition of our students, could be to offer students the option to purchase a membership to the pool for extra cost.

We don’t have to return to the Olympic-style pools that we used to have, but having something to hang out in during the crazy-hot times of year would be amazing.

Although it may not be a necessity, a pool would offer students a healthy and enjoyable experience that the university has been missing for many years. If it came down to the vote of the student body once again, it would be great to see students pushing for another recreational addition to the campus. From intramural sports to daily exercise, a pool would offer more opportunities for students to stay active and it would make the best on the bayou, even better.