Clubs are tackling pool renovation projects as a way to recruit younger families.
For many clubs, the pool area is no longer an afterthought. Rather, it is an amenity that can be a key to attracting a younger demographic. As a result, an investment in a pool project is seen by many clubs as an investment in the facility’s future.
In 2013, White Bear Yacht Club in White Bear Lake, Minn., completed a $2 million renovation project that included two new pools, the addition of a lakeside sailing pavilion, and significant upgrades to the club’s dining areas.
SUMMING IT UP
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The club added a five-lane pool with a diving area, says Brian Seim, Controller and Assistant General Manager, and the pool’s orientation was rotated from its former position (parallel to the clubhouse) so it is now perpendicular to the building, extending out to the lake.
“The pool just wasn’t meeting our needs anymore,” says Seim. “It was 74 years old. The concrete was deteriorating—it was turning back into sand and crumbs.”
Making a Splash with Kids
White Bear YC also did not have a kiddie pool, which is now a necessity, Seim feels, for clubs hoping to attract younger families into their membership ranks. So the project included a separate zero-entry splash pool that offers a wading and play area for children, as well as several spray features.
Other amenities include a pool patio with a shaded area, complemented with tables and umbrellas. The addition also created space for the Galley Café, the pool’s snack bar.
The footprint of the new area, including the patio, is 50 percent larger than the previous pool space, Seim reports. The patio was also expanded to more effectively accommodate weddings and other events. “It was a real challenge for the architects to put everything we required in this space,” Seim notes. “The setback is 75 feet from the lake. To get in a large pool, a kiddie pool and also the deck, café and seating was a struggle. We finally found a design we liked.”
The new pool facility also retained the architectural style, character and structure of White Bear YC’s clubhouse. “The deck is a color-stamped concrete, and we used the same color in all of the sidewalks,” Seim says. “The exterior material outside the Galley Café matches the colors of the clubhouse. Lanterns and lights also match exterior lights that we already had. Everything fits extremely well with the existing building.”
Finding Solutions
Hope Valley Country Club, in Durham, N.C., kicked off construction of its $2.6 million pool renovation after Labor Day 2012. The project included work on the dining terrace pool decks, which overlook a space that features two state-of-the-art swimming pools and three open-air cabanas, according to General Manager Russell Kingsland.
“We added a zero-entry pool in our recreational pool,” Kingsland adds. “The recreational pool also has built-in seating and in-ground water jets,” and the centerpiece of the renovation, he reports, is a lap pool with six competition lanes and a newly configured dive tank.
A pool renovation was first discussed at Hope Valley a decade ago, but then shelved. The antiquated system then kept becoming more costly to maintain, with problems frequently developing.
“It was not competition-length, so we would have to figure the equivalent laps for swim meets,” Kingsland adds about the old pool, which dated back to the 1970s. “We really needed something that was all-inclusive. We needed more deck space, and we needed it to be more updated.”
The orientation of the pool area was shifted to accommodate a new footprint, and now all of the club’s pools are interconnected. “The footprint of the control room is about a third of the size of what it used to be,” Kingsland notes. “Where we used to have six filters, now we have two.”
The new pool also meets the desires of the membership, who weren’t interested in something with large pumps and preferred water features that are more subtle.
Hope Valley’s pool project has not only exceeded existing members’ expectations, it’s led to a boost in applications, with 72 new members joining in 2013. “This was something young families were looking for,” says Kingsland. “Clubs like to have new members, particularly younger ones who are going to be around for some time—for generations, hopefully.”
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