The pool at D.C.’s only public university has been shuttered for most of the summer, and neighbors are worried the troubled campus is falling apart.
Neighbors and students have been told the pool at the Van Ness campus of the University of the District of Columbia is closed because of an electrical problem. It has deprived area seniors of one of the few free water aerobics classes in the city.
Despite massive public subsidies, including $62 million from D.C. taxpayers, UDC has struggled to manage its funds for decades. The campus surfaces are crumbling. Even so, The Examiner reported last year the college had to return nearly $18 million in unused funds to the city because school officials sat on the money. The inspector general released a scathing report this year blasting university officials for wasting and abusing the public’s resources.
University spokesman Gustavo Paredes confirmed the pool had been shut down for several weeks.
“I don’t know whether it’s going to reopen,” he said, declining further comment.
That’s an unsettling admission for William Bedford, 79, a retired public schools official who uses the pool twice a week to keep in shape through the college’s Institute for Gerontology.
“I’m disappointed that our program isn’t getting funded by our central administration,” he said. “Who’s running the programs and who’s running the maintenance?”
In the six weeks he’s been away from the pool, Bedford said, he has gained 12 pounds.
“There’s something wrong up there,” he said of UDC.
