Just two weeks after Riverside trustees unanimously approved a plan to completely overhaul Riverside Swim Club, backhoes rolled onto the property at 100 Bloomingbank Road to demolish the clubhouse, kicking off a construction project club officials hope will wrap up in time to welcome back members for Memorial Day weekend 2021.
The village board approved the plan Sept. 3 after imposing some conditions on the club, including fence screening and the construction of sidewalk connecting the commuter parking lot with the clubhouse along Bloomingbank Road.
“After traversing several Riverside municipal meetings and modifying the construction plans to accommodate the historic village’s requests and requirements, both sides have agreed on a facility design we hope the membership will enjoy and the larger Riverside community can be proud of for generations to come,” said Chris Porter, the president of the Riverside Swim Club board of directors in an email.
The private club, which serves some 450 member families, has been yearning to make over its 58-year-old facility for many years. In 2005, the club’s board commissioned a condition report and environmental survey (the pool is located on the site of a former coal company) in preparation for a renovation at that time.
But, that effort stalled and in 2013 members shot down a more ambitious renovation plan. That all changed in 2019, when members overwhelmingly voted to move ahead with a roughly $5.8 million complete renovation of the club.
The club has hired Helios Construction Company as its general contractor. Legat Architects designed the plan for the new clubhouse and pool.
“Once the concrete and foundations are in place and cured this fall, construction of the new 5,000-plus-square-foot clubhouse building can commence over the winter months,” Porter said. “The construction firm’s teams of electricians, plumbers, pool builders and carpenters will be on a very tight schedule, working through the winter months as much as weather will allow.”
Despite uncertainty this spring due to the pandemic and the possibility of a lost swim season in 2020, members remained solid in support of the project, which will result in an eight-lane 25-meter pool and an expanded diving well.
New concrete decks with permanent shade structures will border that pool as well as a larger zero-depth kiddie pool. An ADA-compliant deck will wrap around the new clubhouse, which will feature a snack shop and outdoor grilling and dining stations. A multi-sport court to the east of the main pool rounds out the plan.
The two new separate pools (zero depth toddler pool and enlarged 8 lane competition pool) and new diving wells are scheduled to be built in early spring 2021 right after the harsh winter months.
“The new diving well will include competition level 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards as well as a highly requested, newly added slide feature for the membership youngsters to enjoy,” Porter said.
