School says $10 million needed to repair Jeno Tihanyi Pool
by Lexey Burns, Editor-in-Chief
Laurentian University says that the Ben Avery Complex and the Jeno Tihanyi Pool will not be opening any time soon.
Marie Josée Berger, Provost and Vice-President at Laurentian, says that the university estimates that the cost of repairs to the facility would be over $10 million.
In an email to students, Berger said “in a recent report commissioned by Laurentian… the noted KPMG firm concluded that high-cost maintenance issues, specifically in relation to the pool, will prevent the University from immediately re-opening these facilities.”
That will keep the pool, and the Ben Avery complex, closed at least until April 30, 2021, Berger said.
Other factors, like COVID-19, the low student population on campus, and the cancellation of competitive varsity sport in Winter 2021 prompted the decision.
Chris Ball, a Sports Education student and Varsity Swimming athlete said that swimmers were left in the dark as to why the Jeno Tihanyi Pool remained closed, despite many other pools reopening across the province.
Ball said that Varsity Swimmers are using the closest available pool, the Howard Armstrong pool located in Val Caron, a thirty-minute drive away from campus.
“It doesn’t make much sense because they’re making us drive thirty minutes away to swim, but it’s also for health and safety, so why don’t we just stay on campus for it?” Ball asked.
Ball said that due to Jeno Tihanyi being closed that Varsity Swimmers “are only swimming five hours a week now,” which is down a considerable amount since last year.
Before the university’s announcement, Ball said he and his fellow swimmers were hoping to get back into the Jeno Tihanyi Pool as early as next semester.
Despite the on-campus pool closure, Ball said that “at the beginning of the year, we were one of only three teams swimming. It was like us, Toronto, and maybe Waterloo… Something always came on and off, like Toronto got shut down for a little bit and then Brock opened up, and then they got shut down again.”
Ball said that Laurentian’s varsity swim team has been the only university varsity team consistently training with the exception of Waterloo.
“I’m just happy I’m still training.”
Phil Parker, the head coach of Men’s Varsity Swimming, refused to comment on the pool’s closure.
“My only focus is to give the 27 varsity swimming student-athletes who have made the decision to come and train at LU this year, even though the competitive part of the season has been cancelled, the best possible experience during this extremely difficult year,” Parker said.
The university said that “Laurentian University continues to actively seek out grants, partnerships, or capital funding that might play a role in funding the safety improvements necessary for a reopening of the Ben Avery Complex and the Jeno Tihanyi Pool.”