This year, boys swim and dive will be without a home. The Evelyn Kirrane Aquatics Center is undergoing renovations, and the pool will be closed at the beginning of this winter.

The pool on Tappan Street serves as the home base for the recreational and high school swim and dive teams. As a result, teams will need to find new practice locations.

Since so many groups and programs use the pool, Aquatics Director Amanda Wong said she hopes the renovations will stay on schedule and the teams can return in January.

“The contractors that are involved with this project are also trying to stay within that timeline,” Wong said. “They understand the importance of reopening our facility on time due to the programs that we have. We want to immediately start back up.”

According to Wong, replacing the broken dehumidifier is the main focus of the renovations, as it’s causing the facility to lose up to 3,000 gallons of water a day. She said that the dehumidification system helps suck the moisture out of the air and recycle the water back into the pools, and it’s currently not doing that.

Athletic Director Kyle Williams is now responsible for finding an alternative pool for the boys swim and dive team. According to Williams, finding a pool that has enough lanes and is easily accessible is just one of the considerations he has to take into account.

“We’re trying to balance a bunch of competing interests,” Williams said. “ I know we’re never going to find something that is going to hit 10 out of 10.”

Students also rely on the Tappan facility as a place to work. Senior and girls swim and dive team member Daisy Huang said the pool’s renovation will affect her job as a lifeguard, since she won’t be able to work there while it’s closed. She said she enjoys practices on campus, and she was upset when she heard the boys will now have to practice elsewhere.

“This year the boys’ and girls’ swim team is pretty close, so it would be great if we could go support them, but since their meets are going to be at a different pool, it’s not going to feel the same,” Huang said.

According to Williams, boys swim and dive is supposed to practice at Simmons University’s pool, but details are still being finalized. According to Wong, information about where the recreational team will be practicing has not been released yet, since contracts are still being signed, but there will definitely be a location for the team to practice at during the closure.

Wong has emailed program participants and a press release went out to the community, informing them of the closure.

“We’ve asked our families to be patient as we are going through this process as well,” Wong said. “It is not an easy process. We’re just asking for patience as we figure everything out.”

Senior Emil Grinberg, a captain of the boys swim and dive team, said it was shocking to learn the team wouldn’t be practicing at the Tappan pool.

“It’s a little exciting to think about practicing in a college pool, which is going to be a little bit of fun, but mainly, it’s been a little bit worrisome. I think the practice time, being late at night, is not ideal,” Grinberg said.

The closure of the pool is also affecting participation, since practices will be at night instead of after school, according to Grinberg.

“The biggest concern is a couple people have considered not even joining the team this year just because of the weird time change, which I think is a bit scary,” said Grinberg. “It’s not like a crazy, crazy change. It’s not going to be the end of the world.”