The Office of Facilities Management held another briefing session on Nov. 29 in the Student Union Building regarding the swimming pool, which was closed on Feb. 28 this year due to the facility’s safety issues.


The school had informed students who attended the first briefing session on April 30 that they had three options on the table. Plan A, the short-term plan, involved conducting essential repairs. Plan B included admitting people from outside of the school to increase the usage fee and receiving external investments. The last option indicated completely removing the pool, considering the fact that the Alumnae Building was not designed for a swimming pool in the first place. The possibility of installing a new swimming pool in a different location, combining it with the ECC Fitness Center had been further suggested.


In the second briefing session, held on Nov. 28, the school updated students on developments since the first briefing session but left students with no further information on which of the three plans the school would choose.


The session mainly explained the results of its current review of regulations and stability in order to find sustainable operation measures for the swimming pool. The report suggested that although the structure is still sound, continued leakage and oxidation on the bottom of the pool require immediate repair. Due to the swimming pool still being considered unsafe according to a recent safety diagnosis report held in August, three fall semester Ewha swimming classes were conducted in Yongsan Elementary School.


The office has also tried to seek investment from institutions outside of the school such as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Institute of Sport Science, and the Seodaemun-gu District Office. However, all have replied that it would be impossible to support a private university in this matter.


After the session, students questions focused on whether the school had decided which plan to implement out of the three that were proposed in the first session. There was also criticism for choosing Yongsan Elementary School as the venue for rescheduled fall semester swimming classes.


“As we are an educational institution and not a private company, it takes a long time to collect everyone’s opinions and make ideas into reality,” said Lee Jun-yub, the director of management of the Office of Facilities Management Safety Team.


The school also commented that student safety is the top priority along with providing opportunities to communicate with all members of Ewha.
 

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