Finding a home for a pool

Rockville Centre’s pool site possibilities have been narrowed down.

According to Jack Matthews, the chairman of the Aquatic Center Evaluation Committee, the two most likely sites for a village pool are the Recreation Center, and south of the Dean Skelos Sports Complex on Peninsula Boulevard.

The committee, which has been charged with determining the feasibility of a pool in the village, also considered Mill River Park, but that location is much less likely. The committee has asked the village to look into any legal issues or restrictions that might impact the construction of a pool on those sites, and is waiting for a final report.

Matthews said that finalizing a location is the first step for the committee. “Then, based on location, what size pool could go there,” he added. There is not a lot of open space in the village, he said, and most of that land is being used for some other purpose.

“We’re looking at everything from a three-month-a-year [outdoor] facility to indoor/outdoor competitive-event venues,” Matthews said. “No recommendations or decisions have been made on that at all.” He also said that neither committee members nor village officials have begun discussing the cost of construction or the potential operating expenses of a pool.

Since it was formed in February, the committee has lost one of its members. Eric Sussman moved out of the village in June, bringing the membership down to 13.

The push for a pool began last July, when resident Mary Beth Kearns presented a petition to the village board supporting the construction of a public pool. As of now, the petition has more than 500 signatures. Kearns’s husband, Christopher Kearns, is a member of the committee.

In the meantime, Mayor Francis X. Murray and the board reached an agreement with Lynbrook in which 100 RVC families can purchase memberships at the Lynbrook village pool for $750.