‘Swim event place of choice’: The new Fort Mill school district Aquatic Center opens
Almost two years after the same leaders gathered to celebrate a plan to save and expand a Fort Mill recreation pillar, they met again to celebrate seeing it finished.
The ribbon was cut Thursday morning on the new Fort Mill Aquatic Center. Full operation starts Monday. The Fort Mill school district built the more than 29,000-square-foot structure beside existing pools at the town-owned Fort Mill YMCA. The aquatic center is the final piece of an ambitious public-private partnership hatched two years ago.
“This building and the surrounding facilities are a testament to the commitment of these entities in serving our community,” said school district superintendent Chuck Epps. “It just goes to show you what can happen when a group of folks get together for the betterment of the total — total — community.”
In 2017, Leroy Springs & Co. announced it would no longer operate the decades-old Leroy Springs Recreation Complex, instead focus on the Anne Springs Close Greenway.
Losing the complex meant the town needed to find a place for basketball, baseball, softball and other sports.
Meanwhile, the school district had an aquatic center on its approved 2015 bond referendum but no definite plans for when and where to build.
On Halloween 2017, those groups joined Upper Palmetto YMCA making an announcement just down the hall from the new aquatic center. Leroy Springs would donate the complex to the town and land beside it for the school aquatic center. Upper Palmetto would operate both. Leroy Springs would keep the ballfields for future development.
“(It) created a partnership that continues to grow, producing good for the whole community,”Mayor Guynn Savage said.
Savage and other leaders Thursday morning praised the Close family running Leroy Springs for yet another contribution to Fort Mill. The complex site ran recreation and fitness programs in Fort Mill for decades, predating the town recreation department. Savage spoke about greenway namesake Anne Close as a giant of the community.
“Our community has enjoyed the benefits of those shoulders in education, recreation, employment, a sense of family, and so much more,” Savage said.
Moe Bell, head of Upper Palmetto, said partnerships are the new way to grow YMCA programs across the country. His group already partners with the Clover and Rock Hill school districts. There’s a new YMCA coming in Indian Land, too.
“I’ve seen a lot of indoor pools,” Bell said. “I don’t think I’ve seen any to match this one.”
The Fort Mill Aquatic Center has improved air quality and lower humidity than most pool buildings. It has 21 width lanes, or the pool can turn and run events full Olympic length.
“This will be a swim event place of choice,” he said. “There are going to be more tourists of people coming to this Fort Mill area. They’ll eat at the restaurants, get their gas here, maybe lodging one day. This facility could attract Olympic kind of swimmers.”
The 621,000-gallon pool has a movable bulkhead, or walkway. There are modern timing boards and other features. Along with the 50-meter outdoor pool in Lake Wylie and the main pools at the Rock Hill YMCA, Bell said there isn’t anything like the local collection of swimming options in South Carolina. There aren’t YMCA facilities like them in the country.
“We’re the place to be if you’re a swimmer,” Bell said.
The school district built the aquatic center, but the YMCA will operate it through membership dues, programs and events. School swim teams and swim lesson programs for fourth-grade students will have free access.
“We’re going to teach every elementary (school) kid how to swim,” Bell said.
“This idea has been in motion since about 2013, officially, and way before that,” Epps said. “This is a top-notch facility that will benefit everyone in our community.”
