Neighboring Pools
As part of the Master planning process we have also sought information about what other neighboring pools have been doing in our community. These pools give us a snap shot at what we might spend on our pool and what we have to compete with in attracting members to our community.
As our architect Dave Almy has worked with a number of Montgomery County swim clubs he was able to provide some reference information on the pools in our area where he has been engaged. Below is a table which we have compiled from his work and with discussions with other pool boards.
While this is a small subset of the over 90 community pools in Montgomery County it provides us some useful reference information.
Of note all three of our closest neighbors – Bannockburn where they are set to open a much expanded pool this summer and Palisades where they completed a major expansion in 2008 and Merrimack where they did a full pool replacement in 2006 and a bath house replacement in 2002 have been substantially upgraded.
In looking at our neighboring pools there are a couple things in common.
- All three of our closes pools have undergone renovations to their pool in the past 10 years.
- Our pool is same age (or older) than the other four pools, and as of this summer (when Bannockburn opens their new facility) we will be the only pool which has not had a major renovation.
- In all three cases the renovations have expanded the amount of swimming space – including lap lanes, expanded training pools or both.
The experience of these pools is important to us for a number of reasons. We are seeking to learn as much as we can from their experience, and we compete with several of these pools for members. Our recent experience with the back deck indicates the impact of renovations on our facility. When we did see an increased turn-over of some members during the year the project was funded, we have since seen an increase in the length of our waiting list.
As renters can move from one pool to another we can expect to see some impact of any additional changes, and it is likely that Bannockburn will be seeing this impact now that they are completing their project.
