In relations with the public, the University of Georgia is moving into the class of Chick-fil-A and Mitt Romney—not so much for what it says, but for what it does not say. The latest example is, of course, UGA’s proposed demolition of Legion Pool, which is eerily similar in treatment, most recently, to UGA’s demolition of Rutherford Hall and its closure of Hull Street. Comes the announcement that the university has determined that a facility is obsolete and that it has been slated for demolition for years in the master plan, and that’s that. Surprised user groups spring up and try to mount opposition, but the university has no interest in what they say, because the fix is already in with the Board of Regents, and it is a done deal.

The university is in effect a giant corporation in our midst. It operates at a remove from our local community, including our local government, except when cooperation is to the advantage of the university. That’s not surprising; any large corporation would have a tendency to be impatient with and uninterested in hearing input from people who are irrelevant to its operations and don’t understand them, anyway.

While it may be of little concern to the university, this unequal relationship should be cause for concern in our community, because the university impinges on us in so many ways and places, with a whole new front opened at the old Navy School, now the Health Sciences campus. The university is all over downtown, all over the county, and its police are all over our streets, with the power to stop us and arrest us. The university is the 800-pound gorilla in the room, and we’re the 90-pound weaklings.

One would think that with all its public relations apparatus and savvy that the university would want to be more accommodating, friendlier, to the town where it lives. Were they unaware that people would be adversely affected by their decision to demolish a popular in-town swimming pool? Or, knowing that the decision would be unpopular, did they just follow the usual policy of not engaging in a discussion about something they’ve already decided? Either way, it would seem to be just “good business” to invite public comment before the decision was made, and to take the opportunity to make its own case for why the landmark pool should be destroyed. Is there something in the university’s corporate culture that views inclusion of the community as a weakness?

I invite you to go to the university’s website, uga.edu, and look at the master plan (which still shows Legion Pool on the future map). You will not believe the meticulousness of the university’s planning, its accounting for present facilities and its projections for the future. These people are professionals at the design, management, upkeep and planning for vast and complex holdings. You’ll also see just how widespread their presence is in Athens-Clarke County.

Since there will apparently be no public discussion with the university, many questions remain in the public mind. New pools are to be built at Lake Herrick, even though they’ve already demolished one student pool over that way for lack of use. The cost of the new pools will far outstrip what it would take to refurbish Legion. Why destroy an intown community asset, a historic 1935 WPA-built, Olympic-sized pool nestled among shade trees in the center of the campus, even if there’s a need for a smaller, university-only pool at the edge of campus? Why demolish Legion for green space when the adjacent green space in Legion Field is now kept locked at all times except when there’s a special event there? Why destroy the pool now for no purpose instead of waiting for the vision of the new university president who will soon replace Michael Adams?

Perhaps these questions could all be satisfactorily answered by the university. Perhaps, even, local citizens who love Legion Pool could inject ideas or at least feelings that the university hasn’t considered. There are so many elements to the discussion that will not get a hearing: historic preservation, stewardship of a community resource, cost-effectiveness, town and gown relations, etc.

Why won’t the university enter into an open, public discussion of these matters?