The University of Georgia is planning to demolish historic Legion Pool and replace it with a new one at Lake Herrick.

The $2.6 million project—funded with student fees, reserves and a contribution from the UGA Athletic Association—will include recreational swim areas, five 25-yard lap lanes, a spa, a bubble bench with an infinity pool edge, concessions and updated restrooms and changing rooms on two levels, the university announced today. The Board of Regents will vote on the project next month and in September. Construction would begin in January, and the pool would open in May.

Lake Herrick and its beach have been closed for several years because poor water quality makes swimming unsafe.

UGA officials say the 77-year-old Legion Pool has become too expensive to maintain. Renovating it would cost about $490,000, but tearing it down would cost only $207,000, according to school documents.

The American Legion built it as part of the federal Depression-era Works Progress Administration program. At 12,250 square feet, it was the largest pool south of Virginia at the time. UGA took over the property from the City of Athens in the 1950s and the pool itself in the 1970s.

The new pool will be about half the size at 6,000 square feet.

The demolition isn't sitting well with some Athens residents. Grady Thrasher, who said he learned to swim at Legion Pool in 1949, sent a letter to the state Historic Preservation Division contesting it.

If the pool is torn down, the property off South Lumpkin Street will become a quad for Baxter Street dorms.