Swim Tank, Home of Aqua Tots, is currently seeking approval from the village of Mamaroneck to redevelop a vacant church into a second site for its swim instruction.
The swim tank, currently located in West Harrison, caters to families from the lower Westchester and Connecticut areas, and teaches children ages four months to 13 years how to swim, while preparing them for swim teams and lifeguarding. The site is co-owned by sisters Fiona Kearney and Aileen Bucciero, who say their current space is filled to capacity.
Kearney said that when choosing a site to expand to, size and location were key, as she and Bucciero are looking for a space that can house a larger pool and can both expand and keep their current client base.
“We’re maxed out in our current location right now and we have a long waiting list,” Bucciero said. “We knew Mamaroneck would be a great market area and we could probably shift a lot of clients over to this new space.”
Bucciero added that the Mamaroneck location would afford the business an opportunity to attract more clients from the current surrounding areas, which is why they chose the space.
Village Planner Bob Galvin said the 120 Madison St. site, the former home of the non-denominational Strait Gait Church, is unique in that half of it was originally zoned for commercial use, while the other half remained residential. The church, which went bankrupt a few years ago, is comprised of a church building, a gymnasium, a parishioner’s site and a parking lot.
According to Galvin, after the Board of Trustees received a request from the swim school to rezone the property, allowing it to be repurposed for commercial use, the project was referred to the Planning Board for an environmental review. The Planning Board took into account the environmental impacts of the site becoming a swim school with the help of landscape consultants, traffic data and stormwater engineers.
The attorneys representing the swimming company are next scheduled to appear before the village zoning board on Feb. 4 for a special permit.
Galvin said the surrounding community is in favor of the swim tank occupying the Madison St. space because their plans include maintaining and protecting the existing church, which is a familiar site to the neighborhood.
“It’s somewhat unusual for a new site plan to have this kind of community support,” Galvin said. “A lot of people love this swim school. The impacts of this proposal are not very invasive, and the developers will be keeping the old building and integrating it more into the context of the neighborhood, so it’s a win for the community.”
Kearney said if all goes smoothly renovations would begin in the spring and be completed by the end of 2016.
