York Town News
Swim Center of Southern Maine set to meet with Board of Selectmen
Skating facility proposal also moving forward
By Jennifer L. Saunders
This architectural rendering depicts the vision for the Swim Center of Southern Maine, proposed to be located on a portion of the town's Bog Road land.
Courtesy SCSM
YORK - If all goes as planned in the months ahead, local residents will be swimming in an indoor pool facility to be located at Bog Road by this time next year.
Meanwhile, a plan to bring a skating arena to that same parcel of land is also moving forward, but a specific timeline had not been announced as of this week.
Kathryn Strand of the Swim Center of Southern Maine, which is seeking to locate an indoor pool complex on the town's land on Bog Road, confirmed last week that she and her partner in the venture, Ann Grinnell, are scheduled to meet with the Board of Selectmen on Nov. 16 to discuss the Woodlot Alternatives survey of the wetlands on the site and move forward with the plan.
The SCSM project went through some difficult times over the summer months when a lack of memberships at the original price forced Grinnell and Strand to reevaluate the project to make it more affordable to residents but still feasible for investors.
"We're moving right along," Strand said Friday. "We have reconfigured the facility to make it initially smaller with the capability to expand later on. In doing that, we've been able to reduce the cost of construction and the cost of memberships."
Memberships are available through the SCSM website at www.scsminc.com and both Grinnell and Strand are hoping local residents will visit the website, check out the new fee schedule and become members.
"These are preconstruction memberships that we're selling. We have to sell them before we open the doors because we can't attract investors … without the commitments prior to the construction," Strand explained. "… We're trying to use the strength and the passion in this community to get this going for everyone."
Once the town and SCSM come to an agreement on the lease of the land, the Planning Board review process can begin.
The voters approved requests on the ballot back in May to allow the Board of Selectmen to negotiate the lease of portions of the Bog Road land for both the skating and swimming facilities.
"We're hoping by the spring to have that all done," Strand said of the planning process.
As currently planned, the facility will be completely accessible and feature a competition-size pool, indoor and outdoor deck areas and locker rooms. Planned activities include swim time for all ages, swimming lessons, York Parks and Recreation programs, swim team practice and physical and occupational therapy, to name a few.
Meanwhile, local volunteers on the York Rink Committee continue to work to bring a skating facility to town.
Prior to the May vote, the group had been in contact with the MacLaughlin Management Group, which built Conway Arena in Nashua, N.H., through a similar partnership of leasing city-owned land.
"We are continuing to work on pulling the necessary components together to move forward with a skating facility," said local resident Peter Goodwin, adding the Rink Committee is continuing to meet and will share more information on the project as it is finalized.
