For years now, Legion Pool has not opened until after University of Georgia students have left, and it closes the week they come back.  Is it a surprise that the students aren't using it?  Do you expect them to drive over from Atlanta to swim in the pool? 

I've been going to Legion for more than 20 years.  Yes, there are fewer undergraduate s there now than there used to be, and that's sad. However, I don't see an overall decrease in pool usage.  I'm more than a little suspicious of any numbers on attendance that UGA is putting out, especially given that they've been trying to get rid of this pool for years. 

It isn't exactly a secret.  They started years ago by raising the usage fees. Long ago, kids didn't get charged the same as adults, and it was much more user-friendly for young professors and students with kids.  I was told then that I was correct, they were in fact trying to discourage families from coming to the pool, because they felt the kids kept the students away. 

Back then, the lap lanes were a dividing line. Undergrads hung out on the side with the volleyball nets, and the moms and kids on the side with the shelter. I took the hint, and my kids and I found a neighborhood pool, but it wasn't nearly as nice as Legion, so we found our way back and coughed up the fees.  So did a lot of other people.  The management of the pool shifted from various UGA departments, and it began to seem like the pool's management became a punishment.  (Do your job well and don't irritate the bosses or you'll get stuck with the pool.) Then the pool started opening later and closing earlier. I suppose if they couldn't get rid of the families, they could get rid of the students.

 Could the pool be a money maker?  Of course! Keep it open through September. It's definitely hot enough!  Open it back up in May.  Keep it open in the evenings.  Keep it open for the thousands of students who live in the dorms that surround the pool!  The pool can't make any money if it's closed.  Does it make sense to spend millions of dollars to build a new pool—in an area that no one lives near and to which no one can walk—that will be half the size of the facility that could be renovated for less than half a million dollars?  This same facility  is within walking distance of multiple dorms and several intown neighborhoods. (And, by the way, it has parking adjacent and across the street and is on the bus line.) Why not just put new mechanical systems in the old pool? 

Why does UGA want to close this pool so badly?

Jill Crandall

Athens