PROVO, Utah — BYU has to tear out its 52-year-old Richards Building Pool. The discussion of what will replace it has prompted anxiety among students and the swim and dive teams.
A recent inspection determined the pool's foundation must be replaced, and the project was put on a fast track. Work is scheduled to begin in March. That would be welcome news to BYU's swim and dive teams and to faculty, students and others who use the building's three pools if the university followed plans to upgrade the facility and install an Olympic-size pool.
Instead, concern arose last week when word spread, largely through social media, that the university had scrapped those long-anticipated plans, which have been used to recruit swimmers for 20 years, and instead planned to reduce the facility to a single pool.
Misgivings about the rumored decision prompted swimmers to launch a change.org petition and a Facebook page called BYU Richards Building Pool. The petition gathered 3,150 signatures in three days, and dozens weighed into the conversation in Facebook posts that raced across multiple pages.
One major fear among swim team alumni was that a reduction to a single pool would signal the beginning of the end for a BYU sports program that is on the rise.
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said the administration is still in the planning process.
"We are currently looking at the needs of our aging pool facilities in the Richards Building," she said. "However, we are still very early in the design process and have not finalized definitive plans."
Jenkins said discussions are limited to physical facilities. The school is not evaluating the future of the swim program.
That's welcome news to Michael King, who swam for BYU from 2010-15 and was a team captain as a senior. The Cougars finished one of his seasons ranked No. 22. He believes the program is growing and deserves support.
Eight BYU swimmers qualified for this summer's U.S. Olympic Trials, and a former swimmer competed for El Salvador at the Rio Olympics. King said those are remarkable numbers for a program with a 25-meter pool. Most national and international swimmers, and top 25 college programs, compete in Olympic-sized, 50-meter pools.
King said BYU coaches have told recruits about plans for a 50-meter pool and upgraded facility since 1997. Coaches brought the plans for the facility to King's home when they recruited his younger brother. Renderings were posted to the Facebook page this week.
When King himself walked on to the team, the chief topic of conversation was that the upgrade, expected to cost $24 million, would occur in the next couple of years. Other BYU construction projects were ahead of it, and over the years some projects leaped ahead of the pool on the list. But talk in the swim program was that the pool would be upgraded after completion of the new BYU basketball practice facility, which is nearly done.
Worry expressed on social media this week was that BYU had adopted a $6 million option that would reduce the swim facility from three heated pools to one shared by swimmers and divers. That would cramp the swim team and others who use an already crowded facility. The Richard's Building pool hosts a number of local programs, including the annual state high school swim championships, as well as free swim hours for faculty and a student body that now numbers 30,000, double its size since the pool opened in 1965.
Such downsizing also would reduce capacity in the spectator area from 2,000 to 500. That would force the high school swim meet to move. BYU's swim meets are drawing more than 1,500 spectators this season.
King reported to the Facebook group that the university held meetings on Tuesday and Friday last week and confirmed that no plan has been finalized. He said BYU appears to be taking input from multiple groups.
"Our goal," he said, "is to help those who will be directly affected by this decision to have a voice in the design."
King and other alumni are encouraging those interested to let BYU know how they feel and that they are ready to support the project. He said alumni and Cougar Club members are prepared to step up and help with fundraising once a plan is finalized and the university gives them a green light to seek financial support.
"We want to do whatever possible to make this facility to come to fruition," King said. "I'm happy things are rolling. I think all parties can find something that will work for everyone. I believe there is a solution out there that can work for every party that uses the facility and something great can be built."
Email: twalch@deseretnews.com