You Can Probably Forget About Putting A Pool In The New Arena

From today's Baltimore Sun, a rumor that Michael Phelps and his business partners are going to buy the "North Baltimore Aquatic Club's Meadowbrook facility, neighboring ice skating rink and post office..." in the Mount Washington neighborhood. 

Best part of the rumor: buying the post office. Yes, it is small and likely needs to be replaced, but has a new location for it been found? I need to look into that some more.

I always thought Dan Rodrick's idea of putting a pool in the basement of the new Baltimore Arena was an interesting one, but a bit of a stretch realistically. It would just drive up the cost of the building. I'd love for Olympic-caliber swimmers to train (and live and eat and shop) in downtown Baltimore. I just don't know how a training facility like this pays for itself. 

If the pool is in the basement, it would have to be for training purposes only. Otherwise, where do the 10,000+ spectators sit?

Baltimore could still host an Olympic swimming trials without a pool in the basement. Omaha built a temporary pool on the arena floor for the 2008 U.S. trials. It only cost $250,000.