York Town News
Pool plan moving forward, but on a smaller scale
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - Ann Grinnell and Kathryn Strand of the Swim Center of Southern Maine still hope to bring a community pool complex to town, but after a disappointing outcome from a nearly six-month membership drive, they're trying a new approach.Last week, Grinnell and Strand notified supporters of SCSM as well as media representatives in the Seacoast that, following the Labor Day deadline for founding memberships, they had taken a step back to reassess how to move forward.
"We are very disappointed, and surprised, that the memberships did not sell easily. We still feel that the community pool is a great idea, but we simply do not have the membership support to build it the way we had envisioned," Grinnell and Strand wrote in their update on the project.
The concept of the Swim Center of Southern Maine won strong voter support at the polls in York back in May as local residents authorized the Board of Selectmen to move forward with negotiations with SCSM to use a portion of town-owned land on Bog Road to build a pool complex.
A similar request seeking negotiations for a skating rink on another portion of the same parcel was approved at the same time.
Even before the question went to the voters on the pool project, Grinnell and Strand announced that to make the project as envisioned a reality would take the support of funding in the form of memberships. The plan was for a facility housing a main pool, therapy pool and an array of associated amenities.
The average membership price was $3,200, with an annual maintenance fee of about $750.
"We gave ourselves until Labor Day to sell 200 Founding Memberships, our minimum to proceed with the project," Grinnell and Strand noted in last week's update on the pool plans.
When Labor Day came and went without meeting that goal, the SCSM team determined the funds and memberships necessary for construction, ongoing operations and as a base to approach lenders and investors are not there. But they have not given up the goal of a community swim center.
"Plan B is a scaled-down, less expensive version of Plan A," the update states. "Since the main objection to Plan A was cost of membership, one of the goals of Plan B is to make the pool affordable for more people. One possible way to reduce the cost is to build the facility in phases, beginning with the minimal requirements - the pool, locker rooms, waiting room and office. We could conceivably add on amenities (hot tub, steam room, therapy pool) in the future as budgets permit."
Grinnell and Strand confirmed that York's Bog Road parcel still remains the target location. SCSM will spend the month ahead working on that plan, and Grinnell and Strand plan to be in town for Harvestfest during the weekend of Oct. 13 to share information about the project.
Grinnell and Strand were out of town and unavailable for comment as of press time.
For more on the Swim Center of Southern Maine, call 439-0564 or visit www.scsminc.com.
