Last month, the Arizona Board of Regents approved $66 million in athletic department renovations, $15 million of which is set to go the Swimming and Diving program.
A HUGE thank you to @Dave_Heeke and the board of regents approving $66 million for athletic department renos- $15 mill going to swim&dive!
— Arizona Swim & Dive (@ArizonaSwimDive) September 29, 2017
This was a preliminary approval of the projects, which have now moved into the design phase, and will be seeking design approval as part of the University Capital Development Plan in November.
The Swimming and Diving renovation plans mostly includes much needed repairs to the existing structure. According to the press release from University of Arizona Athletics, “The Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, which has served as the training center for two team national championships and 101 individual or relay national titles, will see $15 million worth of renovations, which will be used to rebuild the 50-meter pool and repair a vastly deteriorated pump and plumbing infrastructure. Construction at the pool is tentatively scheduled to begin in April 2018 and be completed by January 2019”.
A spokesperson for the school said if the designs are approved next month, the team will likely make plans to practice at one of the other pools on campus, which are Kasser Family Pool (25m) and the Campus Rec pool (50m). The entire press release from Arizona Athletics regarding all 4 proposed projects can be found here.
Spend all the money you want, it won’t help the coaching situation or the Wildcat program one bit.
Give it a few years and hopefully the next head coach can turn it around.
Where was the money when they could’ve gotten a quality coach?
The Dash Family and Frank Busch were insistent that Auggie be hired. There were other far more qualified candidates but when a major donor says things have to go a certain way. Well you accept that if you don’t you’ll probably lose their funding
Finally… a University that puts money into anything but the football team.
University of Arizona Football spent over 80million revamping the stadium.So while they are spending money on swimming they also spend money on football.
I mean, the football team actually drives revenue so yea, probably should spend on the football team first so that it then trickles back down.
Arizona athletics lost money in 2016 for the first time since 2005. Their solution was to push a fee on to students to pay for athletics. Not sure this athletics version of ‘trickle down economics’ is actually working.
https://www.azdesertswarm.com/2017/7/16/15948748/university-of-arizona-wildcats-athletic-department-expenses-revenues-profit-2016-2017-list-finances
They’re gonna need every dollar!
Is this the time, as a UVA fan, I can comment on how Augie ruined the women’s program by having consistent best finishes ever? And also failed to continue the historically unprecedented two top 10 finishes in the 30 years before he got to UVA, following a scandal?
The time was a few months ago when everyone else called him out. Now it’s just beating a dead horse.
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Don’t you claim to swim for the U of A?
Nope I have never made that claim