Elliott Hove | Nov. 10, 2026
Devries Athletic Center at at Warren Wilson College on, Nov. 10, 2026 in Swannanoa, N.C. (Vivian Bryan/Echo News)
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Warren Wilson College (WWC) President Damián J. Fernández sent a disheartening email to the student body saying that, after much deliberation, the WWC Aquatic Center, originally expected to open in spring 2027, will not be rebuilt. Fernández cited exorbitant rebuilding costs, nearly three times higher than initially projected in 2023; once again, dreams of the pool had been stifled. However, the President noted that future plans were “in the works” for the space. But what might those plans be, especially considering how fervently the Aquatic Center has been hyped up for almost two years?
Ian Smith, executive director for facilities and operations, explained the history of the WWC Aquatic Center, which was first closed in late 2014 due to necessary renovations of the exterior structure.
“The pool itself was built in 1987, almost 40 years ago,” Smith said. “It had been taken out of service for a couple of years [in 2014] before a major renovation and overhaul began in, as near as I can tell, 2017, and in 2018, that process was suspended.”
Smith, who was hired in 2025, cited several reasons for the initial suspension of the renovation process, including the scope of the renovation (which would include replacing the entire roof), and early renovations being done poorly. Smith highlighted what the pool looked like when he first came to visit WWC for a facilities management external review in 2023.
“As near as I can tell just from being in the building, it's like the project just stopped one day and folks walked away from it,” Smith said. “I'm not saying that to be dramatic. It's like they just stopped. So then the pool sat unused since basically 2018…and I remember seeing the pool [in 2023], touring it, and thinking, ‘Oh, that's interesting.’ At that point, it had been five years.”
After sitting in a state of dereliction for roughly seven years, it was announced in 2025 that the pool would be rebuilt with the help of a $1.6 million grant from the Tourism Product Development Fund (TPDF) of Buncombe County, matched by WWC and institutional donors. As part of promotional materials for the Aquatic Center, Fernández alluded to the renovation as emblematic of WWC’s Progressive Promise, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
“The symbolic meaning of this project cannot be overstated,” Fernández wrote. “After almost 10 years of inactivity, the Aquatic Center’s re-opening is a physical representation of the renewal of the College and builds on the tremendous momentum generated by the entire Warren Wilson community through the Progressive Promise for All.”
For many on campus, the halting of the Aquatic Center’s renovation brought disappointment and confusion. Shiva Humek, a senior on the Global Engagement Crew, explained how the decision left him feeling let down by the college.
“I just feel really frustrated,” Humek said. “Not even from a swimming perspective, a lot of my friends who aren't athletes were disappointed as well, because having a pool on campus would be really fun recreationally.”
Humek, who was on the men’s swim team for 2.5 years, also highlighted how the team was struggling due to stagnating participation. Part of this was because the team had to travel to and from the University of North Carolina Asheville (UNCA)’s indoor pool, roughly 20 minutes away.
“I was hoping to do swimming again as a sport this year, but I'm just not sure if it's currently happening due to lack of interest,” Humek said. “Part of that problem could have been addressed if we had a pool… So many people I tried to recruit in the past were like, ‘Yeah, absolutely. I would join if we had a pool.’”
Humek noted that, if the $1.6 million grant from the Tourism Product Development Fund (TPDF) of Buncombe County was matched by WWC, the amount raised would be $3.2 million. This means, if costs rose almost three times higher than initial projections in 2023, the current cost of the Aquatic Center’s renovations would be roughly $9.6 million.
William Hove (class of '25), who was a member of the team from 2023-2025, also shared his concerns. Hove explained that meeting NCAA requirements for team size and participation has historically been difficult for the swim team, and now without an Aquatic Center, he is worried about its future.
“The swim team has struggled to recruit dedicated athletes for their team, which is why [there are] a lot of multi-sport athletes,” Hove said. “[It’s required by] NCAA to have a certain number of members on a team, for both accreditation, providing equitable access to sports and to show that you actually have a functioning, fundable team.”
Nevertheless, the space where the Aquatic Center currently occupies is planned to be used in some fashion. Smith said that, while the renovation will not take place, several key steps had to be taken to ensure that the space is both safe in the future and can benefit the campus community.
“I'm not really comfortable leaving [the pool] sitting there… If somebody were to break in there and fall into the empty pool, that would be really bad for them and for the college,” Smith said. “Part of it is going to be working with athletics to figure out, should it be a grassy space? Do we need to put some kind of surface on it, like a multi-purpose court surface for the outdoors? It ends up being fairly complicated no matter what we do.”
Smith explained that while not as complex as the construction of the Aquatic Center would have been, the process of filling in the pool, taking down the enclosure and creating a new space would involve significant planning.
Another question posed amongst students is what WWC plans to do with the $1.6 million grant from TPDF alongside donations made to the college specifically to build the Aquatic Center. Humek echoed these concerns.
“The fact that they have all that money and still aren't willing to go through [with the project] is just so frustrating,” Humek said.
Smith addressed some of these concerns, arguing that perhaps at least some of the funds raised could be put towards the transformation of the space into something besides the Aquatic Center, if donors could be persuaded.
“Some grants were specifically for building or restoring an aquatic center… I think that [those] are going to go away,” Smith said. “[With] others, maybe we can make the case where we can meet the intent or the spirit of the funding source by making sure [the] Athletics [Department] has certain things that it needs to have.”
Ellery Rather, a junior on Community Engagement Crew and former women’s swim team member, noted that she had been unsure for a while on the progress of the Aquatic Center, and that some of the promises for a community resource seemed hard to deliver given the current budget.
“It sounded like they had a lot of fundraising to do when I heard [Fernández] speak at the SGA ‘State of the College’ address earlier this semester,” Rather said. “Our former coach [Rebecca Westfall] had done a lot of work to get the county grant… According to her, she saw potential for drowning prevention classes, a thriving work crew and affordable swim access for an underserved local community.”
As WWC moves forward with other plans for the space, many on campus are feeling suddenly unmoored given the wave of pool enthusiasm just months prior. Smith empathized with these feelings about the news of the Aquatic Center and summarized the issue of the budget in plain terms.
“Everybody in the administration wanted to go ahead with this, not just for athletics and competitive swimming, but for the whole community,” Smith said. “I lost count of the number of times people would come up to me and say, ‘Oh, I'm so excited.’ People whose kids learned to swim there, who learned to swim [here] themselves. And it was a tough decision, but it had to be made, because of the other demands on the college's resources at this time.”