Announcement Coming on Towson Swim Club's Fate

Plans for the Towson Swim Club may not be sunk, after years of planning.

Josh Glikin, a West Towson resident and member of the pool's board, said Wednesday that the board will have an announcement in the next couple of days.

"As of today, the project is alive and well," Glikin said.

The swim club to add 135 members by the end of the month to attain financing. The board started a membership campaign, with members canvassing homes and hosting open houses. The swim club put payment plans and recruitment incentives in place to help entice residents.

A banner reading "Now or Never" was affixed to the swim club's sign at its planned location at the corner of Towsontown Boulevard and Bosley Avenue. The swim club's board said in a January meeting that the project would be canceled if the pool would not be ready to open by Memorial Day in 2013.

Glikin did not have an official count of how many members the pool was able to sign up in the past month, but characterized the response to the membership drive as "extremely positive."

Application and registration fees paid by new members will go into an escrow fund, meaning if the pool is not built, prospective members will get their money back. About $68,000 in legal, design and other fees so far has been paid out of the board members' own pockets, according to Glikin.

The pool would be built on land leased from Baltimore County's Department of Recreation and Parks. The swim club on their agreement, which stipulated that the pool would open by the 2011 pool season.

"There's been discussion about giving them another extention but that there may be conditions on the extension," said County Councilman David Marks, who declined to elaborate on what those conditions may be. "I think the county executive has been very open to extentions and the administration has tried to give them as much time as possible to get membership."