By the time Summer B classes begin, UF students should be able to enjoy a newly renovated Florida Pool.
The eight-lane, 50-yard pool has been closed Summer A while workers carry out a nearly $350,000 renovation plan, said Chandler Rozear, project manager with the Architecture & Engineering Department of the UF Physical Plant Division.
Renovations include resurfacing the bottom of the pool, tiling depth markers and underwater lane markers, and clearing up any plumbing issues dealing with motors and valves.
The pool was last resurfaced in 1996 with a fiberglass shell, which is now being replaced with smooth, quartz-based plaster, Rozear said.
"Swimmers have trouble knowing where they're going in the lanes," Rozear said. "They'll be able to see where they're going with the newly tiled lane markers and won't just drift away."
Lane targets, the spots where swimmers push off from in order to change direction, will also be tiled.
The project began in May when the Florida Pool was emptied immediately following the last day of spring semester aquatic classes.
Student lifeguards who normally work at the Florida Pool were assigned to work at the O'Connell Center pool until renovations are completed.
"The pool is going to be so pretty," said Diane James, aquatics and risk management coordinator.
"When football season starts up again, and the blimps fly over the stadium, it's going to look really amazing."
