Class News

Ted Jones ’64 reports on Kiphuth Pool project

March 27, 2020

Ted Jones ’64, a swimmer and water-polo player while at Yale, sent along this summary of the current project to upgrade or replace the Kiphuth Pool in Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

The story starts with the Kiphuth exhibition pool, built in 1932 as the finest swimming venue in the nation. It remained so through our era: Six lanes, seating 2000. With seats rising at a steep angle on three sides, every seat had a perfect view. It also had other amenities (underwater window, etc.) that allowed for stroke perfection and enhanced coaching. Over its early years it hosted many national meets and through the ‘50s, including, in the spring of ’61, the National AAU Short Course Championships (25 yards in length, the long course being the 50-meter Olympic course). In the ’61 Championships, Yale placed third behind USC and Indiana, with Mike Austin, Tim Garton, Lyn Straw (all ’64), and other upperclassmen playing key roles. Kiphuth at one point won 512 consecutive dual meets in that pool.

But pool technology moved on, and by the ‘80s new gutter and drainage systems and other innovations in design were providing far faster times and Yale was no longer attracting the prime swimming talent it once had. Auburn, Tennessee, and Texas, as well as California schools, were the new locus with new natatoriums featuring 50-meter pools, a separate diving well, and separate warm-up / cool-down pools. That there was a need was becoming apparent but, in this era, a new Yale pool took second place (by far) to the valid and important need to refurbish the colleges, erect other academic buildings, and refit many others to LEED standards (led by Gus Speth and others).

In the late ‘90s, though, an effort was mounted to get a new pool built. It was on an administration list of approved projects listed as “pending” and a fundraising effort produced $9.1M. But the new project never developed traction and it was shunted off into limbo, along with the $9.1M. Because it remained (why?) on the pending list through the 2000 – 2010 period, the funds were never comingled with the (Swenson-managed) Endowment Fund, so did not participate in that Fund's remarkable growth, and the project languished.

In 2010 there was renewed interest in getting the project moving, and a five-man steering committee was formed as an adjunct of the alumni Yale Swimming and Diving Association (YSDA). The committee consisted of Steve Clark ’65 (Olympic gold medalist), Tim Garton ’64 (multiple event champion for many years in masters swimming and a member of the Masters International Hall of Fame), and three others from later classes. Tim was a real-estate developer in Vail, so he knew construction and played a major role on the committee, among other things visiting six or more premier natatoriums in the US to meet with the engineers and contractors to get a true picture of the scope of such a project. The goal was to build a facility capable of hosting national and international level competitions. Steve estimates that each of the committee members likely committed over 500 hours (and who know how much money) to moving the project forward. The committee’s principal contact was Athletic Director Tom Beckett, but they also met with the coaches, architects, Yale VP Bruce Alexander (’65), and Yale Facilities Management professionals, but it was not high on Levin’s want list.

With Salovey’s installation, the committee met with him to present a project for adoption, which he basically approved, but subject to independent funding (ignoring the lost opportunity cost on the $9.1M). The committee had estimated a cost in the $15-25M range, but Yale’s estimating protocols came up with a cost in the $35-45M range for a new “Yale” facility at a new site, and $55M to replace the Kiphuth Pool.

Over the years, three sites have been proposed:

Renovate Kiphuth (way too expensive, and there are issues of structural integrity of Payne Whitney for a massive redo)
New facility at the Bowl (really too far for twice-a-days)
New facility just to the west of Ingalls Rink and the new colleges, east of Payne Whitney, and behind the Department of University Health and Yale Police.

Yale has quietly been buying properties at that last site for years, and a recent architectural initiative placing an imagined facility in that space indicates plenty of room, though no specific architectural specifications were posited. Likely cost: $40M.

In 2015 the steering committee was supplanted (not sure why) by a new organization of alumni — the Fast Water Committee — led by Matt Meade ‘87. Then Levin left and Salovey came in with a much more “enlightened” attitude. Shortly thereafter, Beckett left (he had always been only lukewarm and not really pushing), and Vicki Chun became Athletic Director, bringing a whole new attitude and energy. Early in her tenure, John Howells met her at a reception in Atlanta and had an extended conversation. She had previously been AD at Colgate, where she spearheaded the building of a new hockey facility. She told John that the pool was her #1 capital project priority. John let the swim community know (through an email chat group called Swim Lore with some 300 members) and the energy since has been palpable. Matt Meade reports that there is great communication between the administration, the athletic department, and the committee. All agree on the need, are in a collaborative posture, and are moving the project forward as fast as is reasonable in such a huge organization. Optimism abounds.

As you know, Yale is in the early, quiet stages of a major new fundraising program (not sure what the overall goal is), but initial outreaches to potential high-end donors are in progress. With $9M in the bank, we need another $30M+. Lead donors are being sought, and the word is that $15M would achieve naming rights, either individually or as in the “Class of 1964 Gate.” It's an interesting perspective that everyone believes that such a lead donor is unlikely to arise from the swim community, for whatever reason. Nothing has been done regarding specific design elements (other than the basic three-pools), as Yale’s preference is to have the money committed before they get into architecture and planning.

In my extended conversation recently with Matt, he was so pleased to hear of our class’s interest in the project (any publicity is good), and would welcome your outreach (mmeade@eckertseamans.com) if you would like to clarify anything or develop other information. Very interestingly, he and I talked at some length about a program sponsored by the YSDA, very like Squash Haven though perhaps not as in depth (pun intended). YSDA has a similar commitment to community service.