Teagle Pool is 71 years old this year.
It may take 7-10 years to complete new natatorium facilities, according to President Pollack.
Questioned on the issue at a University Assembly (UA) meeting on Tuesday, Pollack stated that, despite efforts, Cornell had not obtained a donor for the planned natatorium. Due to budget constraints, among other issues, Cornell will potentially have to wait until 2032 for a new pool to open.
“We just don’t have the money right now. We don’t have tens of millions of dollars or a donor, or frankly a place on campus to put it.” said Pollack
Pool funding doesn’t appear to be a high priority for the President, either: “If I had tens of millions of dollars,” she said, “I would be putting it towards salaries, not towards pools.”
Cornell’s swimming facilities have been at the forefront of issues facing the administration after all 5 bodies of Cornell government approved the resolution “Inclusion and Prioritization of a New Natatorium in the ‘To Do the Greatest Good’ Capital Campaign.”
Authored by University Senator and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences Ashleigh Newman, the resolution called for funding for a new natatorium from the prospective $5 billion to be raised by the “To Do the Greatest Good” campaign.
A Cornell Daily Sun article by Ally Fertig provides an analysis of the issue: The pools are ancient; Teagle Hall is 71 years old, and Helen Newman will be 60 next year. Their antiquated locker rooms do not provide equal space for both sexes, even with refurbishing. Further, demand for pool hours greatly exceeds supply of space and time. The shortage of pool hours has been worsened by frequent and expensive closures and maintenance issues, prompting Cornell’s swim teams to rent practice time in Ithaca College’s facilities.
Additionally, Cornell’s facilities pale in comparison to those of other Ivy League Schools, like Princeton University, and other regional schools, like Binghamton and Colgate. To match these schools, the resolution “Inclusion and Prioritization of a New Natatorium in the ‘To Do the Greatest Good’ Capital Campaign” called for a facility with a 50 meter pool.
President Pollack acknowledged these issues, saying, “We understand that the current pools are problematic.” For the present, however, she said that, while “our pools are not beautiful but they’re performing adequately. And we also are planning short-time backups in case they start to fall.”
According to the resolution, even after recent renovations, Cornell’s two pools will become unusable in 2025, meaning that after 2025 Cornell will be without its own natatorium.
The Review obtained comment from University Assembly Chair Duncan Cady, who originally broached the natatorium issue at Tuesday’s UA meeting. Cady was frustrated with President Pollack’s update, emphasizing the broad degree of support for new swimming facilities:
I think President Pollack has made clear she will not be prioritizing this project and I find that very disappointing. This is a project supported by all constituencies of the Cornell community, with students, faculty, and employees alike all supporting an accessible community health resource in a time where supporting community health should be a priority.
Rarely does the Cornell community agree as broadly as we have last year to see this project be added to the “Do the Greatest Good Capital campaign”, and it sends a very discouraging message to community leaders and involved community members if their voices won’t be heard.
The resolution’s sponsor, Professor Ashleigh Newman, also commented on President Pollack’s remarks, striking a more positive tone. Newman was excited that President Pollack mentioned talking about the issue with Cornell’s Board of Trustees, saying, “I’m pleased to hear that the resolution was discussed at this past spring’s Board of Trustees meeting and that Cornell leadership is looking into funding approaches for a new natatorium.”
While acknowledging that development of a new natatorium would take several years, Newman pointed out that a new facility would also assist Cornell’s efforts to improve student mental health:
I firmly believe that having an inviting, modern, safe, and accessible facility for aquatic activities on Cornell’s campus would be a proactive, positive contributor to the mental health of our community. I look forward to hearing future updates from the administration on their progress.
What will those facilities look like? Cornellians have yet to find out.
A full transcript of President Pollack’s comments to the University Assembly are below:
University Assembly Chair Duncan Cady: I’d love it if you could give any more updates on the resolutions passed both by the faculty senate, student assembly, university assembly and then I believe the employee assembly as well, last year on the natatorium project.
President Pollack: Yeah, Yeah. And look, I’m going to be honest with you guys, because that’s what I do. We hear you. We know that having a pool would be a real asset. We understand that the current pools are problematic. We are working towards solutions. There are no easy solutions.
A new pool would cost tens of millions of dollars and It would require a whole new building on a flat, appropriate space that isn’t obvious where it is. We don’t have that level of funding and even more than when I said that last year, this year, we are really prioritizing people. That is, we are really trying to prioritize increases in salary next year in our budget, particularly for our lowest paid staff, but also for our graduate students, our faculty, for everybody.
We went out, we looked to see if there were donors, we don’t have any obvious donors for this. So what we’re doing is we’re looking at creative funding to get us there, but it’s not going to happen immediately. It’s going to be five to seven to ten years involving a number of intermediate steps. I just want to be realistic with you.
In the meantime, right now, our pools are not beautiful but they’re performing adequately. And we also are planning short-time backups in case they start to fall. We just don’t have the money right now. We don’t have tens of millions of dollars or a donor, or frankly a place on campus to put it. And if I had tens of millions of dollars I would be putting it towards salaries not towards pools.
And, by the way, we did discuss that with the board. That is because, as you know, whenever a resolution is passed by all five assemblies, we present it to the Board, and the Board understands this.
Correction: The proposed new pool would be 50 meters long, not 50 feet. The error has been corrected.
