High Repair Costs Forcing Boston Team and Pool to Close

BOSTON, Massachusetts, February 28. A summer league swimming club has closed in the wake of dwindling membership and high costs to repair and maintain its pool.

In an article published by the Framingham Patch, the JCC Clearbrook Swim Club will not continue to operate out of the outdoor pool at the Jewish Community Center in Clearbrook, as costs to bring the facility up to code per the Americans With Disabilities Act will cost about $100,000. The pool will need other repairs and upgrades, the article states. Members of the swim team were informed of the closure in a letter from Mark Sokoll, the president and CEO of the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston, earlier this week.

“We saw a resurgence in membership that continued until the recession in 2008, when we lost 30 percent of our members,” Sokoll wrote. “For the last 5 years we have hoped to see the economy improve and membership rebound, but that has not happened. Swimming pools are expensive to operate, and this is a 50-year-old facility. Our replacement and maintenance expenses keep mounting, and we have struggled to meet the everyday needs of an aging facility and higher water and pool chemical costs, especially with decreased revenue.”

Though Sokoll wrote the letter well in advance of the pool's planned Memorial Day opening, the JCCs of Greater Boston wasted no time in removing the official team website on its bostonjcc.org webpage.

Though the JCC Clearbrook Swim Club operated as a summer league team, swim families can take comfort knowing that two USA Swimming Clubs operate in the area: Shawmut Aquatic Club and Metrowest YMCA Stingrays.

Full text of Framingham Patch article

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