With the recent announcement of plans to construct the Spieker
Aquatic Center, questions have arisen as to whether the center will
affect the surrounding area, specifically the adjacent Sunset
Canyon Recreation Center basketball and tennis courts.
Mick Deluca, director of the UCLA Department of Cultural and
Recreational Affairs, has cleared some of the misconceptions
regarding the $10 million facility. Construction is expected to
begin in the summer of 2007, and the facility will replace the
current set of four tennis courts nearest to the Sunset Canyon
parking lot.
“What we’re trying to do is not eliminate, but
relocate,” Deluca said. “We’re trying to maintain
eight tennis courts and relocate the basketball courts because we
realize those basketball courts are a necessity, especially with
the boom of dorms.” There are currently 10 tennis courts at
Sunset Canyon.
The basketball courts will likely be removed during the summer
of 2007, when the majority of students are not present, Deluca
said. As of right now, however, the new location of these courts is
undetermined. Deluca said architects are continuing to do studies
to determine a location that will be accessible to students,
especially those in the residential halls.
In terms of the new pool, Deluca still isn’t certain how
things will play out.
“At the moment, we’re going into the programming
phase and we’re sitting with the architect and going over the
use of the pool,” he said. “In terms of opening swim
time for students, we’re still analyzing that at the
moment.”
Two groups that will certainly benefit from the Spieker Aquatic
Center are the UCLA men’s and women’s club water polo
teams, Deluca said.
Currently, the men’s club water polo team practices at the
Sunset Canyon pool and the women’s club team practices at the
Student Activities Center.
“It’s a great idea,” said first-year
women’s club water polo coach Geoff Stevens, who wasn’t
aware of the plans for a new aquatics facility. “Right now we
don’t even have goals that are up-to-date. (UCLA Recreation)
is supposed to give us new goals by next year, but we’re not
going to hold our breath. If this comes through, we’ll be
more than ecstatic.”
The construction of the Spieker Aquatic Center will also
undoubtedly affect the students in the residential halls, Sunset
Village in particular.
“We’re well aware of the noise, mitigation, move-in
and move-out weekends,” Deluca said. “We’ve just
formally announced the facility, so now our next step is to include
working with others.”
Suzanne Seplow, director of the Office of Residential Life, was
not aware of the construction of the facility on Monday, but she
believes the ORL “will work closely with the recreational
department with any assistance (it) can provide.”
Currently, the aquatic facilities at UCLA are outdated. SAC,
formerly the Men’s Gym, was first constructed 70 years ago,
and Sunset Canyon over 40 years ago.
More than anything else, Deluca is excited about the
opportunities the new facility will bring to UCLA.
“By today’s standard, our facilities are outdated
and barely meet NCAA specifications,” Deluca said. “We
have no diving areas on campus; we only have one 50-meter pool for
water polo, so every time we have a water polo game we need to shut
the pool off to the entire campus.
“With this facility we’re going to show the
world-class representation of UCLA,” Deluca said.