Campus & community, Campus news

Campus to build new pool in Tang Center lot

By Anne Brice

Campus broke ground last week for a new pool to be built in the Bancroft-Fulton parking lot, adjacent to the Tang Center.

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The California Aquatic Center, to serve as a practice facility for Cal’s swimming and polo teams, will include a 52-meter training pool with a bulkhead and diving tower, locker rooms and a team space.

By moving the training sessions to the new center, Rec Sports will be able to offer more pool time to the general campus at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

“We are committed to excellence in everything we do, and to make that excellence a reality for everyone that is part of the university,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said. “Our aquatic athletes are models for our university. They are models for our athletic programs. They are models for all of us.”

Construction on the new swimming center is slated to begin Monday, June 22, and is expected to last through June 2016.

This means the Tang Center lot, with more than 200 spaces, will be closed by the end of the day Sunday, June 21. When the new swimming center opens in summer 2016, some parking is expected to return, but many spaces will be lost. Alternate transit and parking options can be found at the campus’s parking and transportation page.

Construction work hours are scheduled to be 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, though there may be days when crews work until 5 p.m.

Those with concerns or complaints about construction can get in touch with UC Berkeley Real Estate at (510) 643-4793 or cshaff@berkeley.edu. The campus office of Environment, Health and Safety is also available to take calls at (510) 642-3073.

Read more about the swimming center.