Campus Recreation can’t seem to secure the money it needs to resurface the Andros Pool.

The pool has been in need of resurfacing for years, and Campus Rec has been repeatedly denied the money required for the repairs.

Campus Rec requested Student Government allocate $200,000 to resurface the pool in its 2005 budget and was denied.

A committee of students and administrators recommended that $605,000 of the approximately $13 million in Capital Improvement Trust Fund money USF allocated last fall go toward replacing the pool. The money all went toward the reconstruction of the Phyllis P. Marshall Center.

Stymied, Campus Rec again turned to SG and requested $300,000 to resurface the pool from this year’s budget. The budget, released April 11, denied the funds.

The Oracle reported in September that Campus Rec has been trying to resurface the Andros Pool because the surface is cracked. While the pool has been patched numerous times, the Hillsborough County health inspector has threatened to condemn it on more than one occasion.

Angela Henderson, who is taking a swim class this semester, said the pool should be torn down or entirely renovated.

“I had a reaction on my arms where it was irritated and itchy from leaning against the sides and deck around the pool,” Henderson said. “I was told it was a reaction to the Fiberglas.”

But Eric Hunter, the head of Campus Rec, said a new pool should be rebuilt or the old one should be refurbished. However, with limited funding, the pool will probably be further patched the next time it is cleaned. The pool is cleaned during the breaks between semesters, Hunter said.

Former SG senate Budget Chair Amal Patel said other projects have precedence over the pool renovation. He also said there is a chance a new pool will be built if the Andros complex itself is rebuilt in the coming years.

“Basically, we just didn’t have the funds to allocate,” Patel said.

Hunter said the Recreation Center is in need of a new pool more than the Andros complex is. He said the plumbing system for the indoor pool is falling apart.

“The indoor swimming pool just had a major crack occur in the main drain line,” Hunter said. “That one did get repaired.”

Hunter said the surface of the indoor pool is fine because it isn’t weathered from the elements like the Andros Pool.

SG did allocate funds to Campus Rec pools this year. New chlorine pumps and a vacuum pump were purchased.

Hunter said the pool wasn’t considered because it was such a big-ticket item but agreed there is a chance a new pool will be built on the site. He said there has been talk of constructing new buildings around Andros, and the pool could be included in that cost.

Henderson said she doesn’t know how to fix the pool, but something should be done.

“It’s not right to put students’ health at risk,” Henderson said.