The site was a prime location, a large parking lot across the street from campus, within a few blocks of Berkeley’s downtown. Was an aquatics facility—home for UC Berkeley’s intercollegiate swimming, diving and water polo programs—the highest and best use for that land, when the campus need for student housing and academic facilities was well documented? For non-athletes, access to the pool is limited to four hours, on Sunday morning. This is an attractive facility but it used a valuable land resource for an activity only marginally related to university mission and accessible to a small number of students. The center’s website proudly notes that it was funded “entirely by private donations”. Image © Cal Athletics
