Lou Martin will miss seeing the sun come up over the University of Memphis campus during her morning swim.

“For me, it’s been such a spiritual connection,” Martin, a member of the Early Bird swimming program, said Friday morning during her last swim in the Olympic-size outdoor pool at the U of M Student Recreation Center. “I call it my sanctuary. I’ve done a lot of soul-searching underwater. I call it my best friend.”

The 50-meter pool, installed in 1971 when the center was built, will be demolished in the coming weeks as the university makes way for redevelopment that will include renovation of the existing rec center along with a new center, a soccer field and other features. 

Due to the construction of the new Wellness and Fitness Center, the Early Birds and other recreational swimming will move to the current center’s indoor pool beginning Saturday, Aug. 24.

“It saddens us all,” Martin said. “It’s sad to have to see change.” 

Martin, a U of M alum, has used the outdoor pool several days each week over the past 15 years. She’s taking the loss, though sad, in stride.

“They’re getting ready to do exciting things with the U of M’s rec center, and with that is saying goodbye to the outdoor pool,” said Martin, who earned her master’s and doctorate degrees from the university. “I love the school. I love what it has become and is becoming.”

Many of the Early Birds, a group of Memphians ranging in age from the 40s up, have fond memories of using the pool. They are there from 5:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. each day.

“The Early Birds Swim program has been running many years. They’re our most devoted swimmers, so we glad to have them and accommodate them, and we look forward to having them for many years to come,” said the rec center’s executive director, Steve Whistler.

Joanne Hooker-Melton became an Early Bird in 1989 and has swum five days a week at the pool ever since. She describes herself as both sad and mad the pool is being removed.

“I would prefer it to stay open. It just seems short-sighted to get rid of an Olympic venue-type pool. There are only three in the city, and now there will be only two,” said Hooker-Melton, who lives nearby and formerly worked at the university. “I don’t if a lot of people know it’s closing.”

The two remaining area Olympic-sized pools are both indoors, one inside the U of M rec center and other at St. George 
School in Collierville.

Hooker-Melton said a petition with thousands of signatures, seeking to keep the pool open, was submitted to the university, but to no avail.

The pool, which is 6.5 feet deep at its center with a 17-foot dive well, is used in the afternoons by students, faculty and alumni. Rhodes College and area high school and club swimming teams use the pool for long-course exercises in the summer.

“The pool is being removed as part of the Student Wellness and Fitness project,” U of M Chief University Planning Officer Tony Poteet said. “It has to be closed, drained and some items salvaged before it can be demolished.”

The school is in the design phase for construction of the new $30 million Wellness and Fitness Building, which will include a nutritional teaching kitchen, classrooms, group fitness studios, as well as enhanced and expanded weight and fitness areas. There will also be a new outdoor leisure pool that will be smaller than the current outdoor pool.

“We’re going to be breaking ground probably next month. Although the date’s not firm, we’re quickly heading that direction,” Whistler said. “We really want to provide something for everyone, and the way it will end up, I think, will meet everyone’s needs and be an even better situation.”

The work is part of the continuing transformation of the campus area south of Southern Avenue. Work in recent years has included removal of the outdoor tennis courts that were replaced with parking, construction of a new parking garage and installation of a new pedestrian bridge stretching over Southern and the railroad tracks.

The existing student recreation facility will continue to provide programming for basketball, volleyball, badminton and racquetball, in addition to outdoor playing fields and tennis courts.