York Town News
Lack of support sinks Bog Road swim center plan, but skating proposal still under review
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - For almost two years, Ann Grinnell and Kathryn Strand were at work behind the scenes and in the public eye with a goal of bringing their Swim Center of Southern Maine to town.Last week, however, the pair announced that is not to be.
Grinnell and Strand announced in a press release that the SCSM efforts have come to an end due to insufficient support from the community in the form of the sale of pre-construction memberships.
"We needed 200 memberships in order to build the pool," Grinnell said in the statement issue last week. "We only received about 60."
Grinnell and Strand confirmed they were not comfortable with financing the project - at an estimated $3 million - without the guarantee the revenue would be coming in to cover the cost of operating the pool.
"We couldn't take the chance, hoping people would come if we built it," said Grinnell.
That was a message Grinnell and Strand have repeated throughout the fundraising portion of their plan, urging residents to come forward and purchase the memberships now because, without up-front sales, the pool would not be possible.
Many residents balked at the price of the pool memberships, however, when they were first announced last spring. In the months that followed, Grinnell and Strand reviewed the costs and created a new table in an effort to make pool memberships more affordable for members of York and its surrounding communities.
That, however, was not enough to sell the required memberships.
Back in May of 2006, York voters approved two warrant articles on the ballot to allow the Board of Selectmen to negotiate with both the Swim Center of Southern Maine to locate the pool complex on a parcel of town-owned land on Bog Road and with a local volunteer committee working to bring an ice arena to an adjoining parcel.
In both cases, the project developers would be able to lease the land for a nominal fee. The projects would not be assessed taxes on the land itself, but would pay all taxes on the buildings and their contents.
According to Grinnell and Strand, the pool project had progressed in all aspects, except memberships.
"The Swim Center was prepared to share in the cost of development and infrastructure of the town's new 'recreation campus' (on Bog Road). The lease for the land between the town and the Swim Center was under review by the town attorney. Pool organizers were ready to proceed with engineers, architects and a builder," Grinnell and Strand wrote in last week's announcement of the decision not to go forward.
Grinnell and Strand are in the process of contacting those who purchased memberships in order to refund their deposits. Questions about those memberships and the project may be directed to scsminc@comcast.net.
"It is very disappointing," said Grinnell. "A pool would be a huge asset for this town. This is a major lost opportunity for York and the residents of southern Maine."
For hockey and skating fans, there is still hope for a new skating arena in town, according to local volunteers serving on the York Rink Committee.
"Our group continues to meet and strategize on moving the project forward," said Peter Goodwin, adding the group has been keeping in touch with Parks and Recreation Director Mike Sullivan and members of the Board of Selectmen.
The focus at this time, he said, is on closing the gap in capital construction costs that grew with the rising prices of steel and petroleum products during the multi-year process of getting the request on the ballot for voter approval.
The group has been working with the MacLaughlin Management Group, which opened its Conway Arena in Nashua, N.H., through a similar nonprofit, public-private partnership.
"The nonprofit business model that the MacLaughlin Group had based their project proposal on has a limit to the loan amount that can be supported," Goodwin explained.
The York Rink Committee is now focusing on value engineering, fundraising and grants, and fine-tuning the business model to make the project feasible, he said.
Once those factors are in place, he said, "We will begin the local process for implementation."
Goodwin reiterated that there is no shortage of demand for the proposal, with York ice hockey teams traveling to Biddeford and beyond for their practice ice and games, and figure skaters finding the nearest available ice in Biddeford or Dover and Exeter, N.H.
He added that with increased ice costs from at least one nearby arena, the project has the potential to be supported not only locally by the many hockey players, competitive figure skaters and residents who just enjoy the sport as a year-round recreational option, but regionally as well.
