After much back-and-forth about whether or not the University of Wisconsin would get a new competition pool as part of the rec center renovations planned to begin this decade, the university announced today that the Southeast Recreational Facility (SERF) will, in fact, include a new pool.

This pool will run a bill of about $26 million, with the total renovation package sitting at an estimated $223 million rec sports plan.

The budget was approved by a student vote earlier this year, where students approved a measure to increase recreation program fees from $36 per semester to $108 per semester (still significantly less than the Big Ten average of $145).

At the time of that vote, the pool appeared ready to be stripped from the plan. The school was looking for “outside funding,” not from students, to cover half of the cost, with students funding the other half. Prior to the vote, Wisconsin said that they had not received any additional funding.

Now, however, gift funds have begun to roll in, and the pool will give the state of Wisconsin a much-needed competitive jewel. The currently competition pool, built in 1961, is an 8-lane, 25-yard course, and while it has seating for 1,500, it is not viewed as a high-quality facility, and is arguably the worst facility in the Big Ten (though Michigan State may give them a run for that dubious title). The SERF does have an 8-lane, 50-meter pool, but it has no spectator seating and cannot host meets.

The new pool will be 50-meters long and have a separate diving well with a platform. It will also seat “a minimum of 1,500” spectators.

Construction is set to begin in 2017, and the pool will open in 2019, if all goes to plan.

The pool will be owned by Wisconsin’s rec sports department, but according to Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez, the Department of Athletics has “agreed to make a substantial financial commitment in order to help fund the pool.”

“Athletics has always been a good campus partner, and I’m pleased we are going to be able to assist with the development of this pool,” Alvarez says. “We have good fundraising momentum, but we still have work to do.”

“The addition of a competition pool was something envisioned by UW students from the conception of this plan, and recreational and athletic users alike should feel very fortunate that the funding from students, athletics and donors has come together to provide UW-Madison with a first class collegiate pool,” says John Horn, director of the Division of Recreational Sports. “This amenity addition only contributes to the state-of-the-art recreational master plan that is set to begin in the near future.”

Wisconsin’s men finished 7th at the 2014 Big Ten Championships and 33rd at NCAA’s last year; the Badger women were 6th at Big Tens and 13th at NCAA’s.