The students have been heard.
The first series of talks between university officials, students and RDG Planning & Design, an architecture firm, to conceptualize a new pool where the Broward Pool now stands, ended Thursday.
"The pool now is just a pool," said Miles Bernstein, an 18-year-old business major. "It's nothing special."
Bernstein said he would like to see amenities added to the pool, specifically a wave pool or lazy river.
"It sounds like a lot of fun, something I'd go to," he said referring to a new pool.
Candice Mostisser, a finance student, didn't have any complaints about the current pool but said she would like to see some changes.
"I like the pool," she said. "I haven't had a bad experience there."
She doesn't support spending money on a new pool if the money has to come from another department. She said she thinks another bus route to Lake Wauburg would be more cost-effective.
If money isn't an issue, however, she said she would like to see more space at a new pool.
"I'm pretty simple," she said. "As long as there's enough room, I'll be happy."
Both students echoed what Severin Walstad, president of the Inter-Residence Hall Association, already learned from a survey that lasted from June 28 to July 18.
"We want this pool to be the flagship of the country," he said.
More than 90 percent of the 2,423 students who responded to the survey had a favorable response, stating they may or will use a new recreational pool in the Broward area if the current pool is razed, or completely destroyed, which is currently the plan.
Some of the additions included in the first draft of the plan are slides, an elevated leisure pool, a lazy river with activity zones and a Double FlowRider.
The cost of the pool cannot be determined at this time because at this phase, the groups are still in the planning stage. Money for a pool will come from an existing source, Walstad said, not an increase in student fees.
UF's Department of Recreational Sports paid for the master planning stage, where RDG and the university discuss the possibilities and design of the pool, he said.
The planning stage was streamed online and students were able to give feedback during the talks.
"This is something the students want," Walstad said.
Mike Horvath, 18, said he does not use the Broward Pool now and probably won't use a new pool constructed in its place.
"It's not my cup of tea," he said.
He said he doesn't like to swim and would rather do something else with his time.
Horvath did not take the survey and says he doesn't oppose the construction of a new pool, as long as his student fees do not increase.
He said he did not know what amenities he would put in the pool area, but he said he thinks other students will use a new pool in the area.
Other schools across the state and the country already have amenities like the one UF wants to put on the east side of campus, said David Bowles, director of UF RecSports.
"The pool that is there now is not meeting students' needs," Bowles said.
Other schools such as Florida Atlantic University, the University of Central Florida and Texas Tech University have leisure pools with some features similar to the ones UF is exploring.
Bowles said there have been ideas to alter the area for some time, and there is no timetable for the pool's completion.
The area is a good place for a pool because it has the space required to pursue this kind of project and is frequented by students, he said.
A resolution to conceptualize the new pool was passed by IRHA and announced to Student Government May 31.
The Interfraternity Coucil, Panhellenic Council and Student Government also passed resolutions.
RDG Planning & Design will be back at the end of August to come back for a second round of talks.
