Diving into a plan for a Shelter Island swimming pool: School property eyed for multi-use project
The dream of a Shelter Island Community Aquatics & Athletic Center is coming into focus.
Imagine a place on Shelter Island where seniors could go for water exercise, parents could get in a few laps before work, and a school swim team could practice.
In addition, a center of community wellness, where students could go for after-school activities, and the Town’s fitness classes could have a home.
Shelter Island’s one and only public fitness center, Project FIT, was the invention of Maura Regan and Lila Piccozzi, seniors in the Shelter Island High School Class of 1998.
The two students brought the community together around their idea, which included a fitness room, tennis courts and ball field improvements, and raised over $250,000 to make it happen.
Twenty-five years later, the committee for the Shelter Island Community Aquatics & Athletic Center (SICAC) has been formed to realize a dream that started small.
The new concept is a public fitness center that would replace Project FIT, and be located on property owned by the school on Duvall Street, with an indoor pool, exercise equipment, indoor and outdoor tennis/pickleball courts, and a multi-use gym.
Jay Card Jr., a former highway superintendent and Town public works director, is one of the champions of the new project. Mr. Card was a close friend of former FIT director Garth Griffin and remembers working with him on a plan for a new fitness center 15 years ago.
“We used to sit and doodle our ultimate plan,” Mr. Card said. “We built in the things we thought the community would like.”
After Mr. Griffin’s death in 2021, Mr. Card turned their doodles and discussions into a 3D computer visualization that demonstrates some of the possible uses of the space on Duvall Street.
While Mr Card and Mr. Griffin were dreaming, Laurie Fanelli, former head of the Senior Center, organized a group to investigate how Shelter Island might build a pool that seniors could use.
Andrea Gabor, a member of the Committee, recalled, “When I joined the board of the Senior Foundation during the pandemic, I was asked to look at what the priorities should be, and Laurie Fanelli made a very impassioned case for the advantages of a pool for seniors. I’m concerned about income inequality. When Laurie was talking about the pool for seniors, I thought this would be a great thing for families. A great outlet for kids, especially teenagers.”
Tim Purtell, Myra Pescowitz, and Marie Bishko are also members of the committee, and two years ago, they met with School Superintendent Brian Doelger to assess the school’s priorities and potential uses of a new fitness center. They concluded that they needed two things to get the ball rolling: a site, and the ability to fundraise.
Andrea Gabor led the effort to establish the committee as a nonprofit, which has allowed it to start fundraising, and the committee joined forces with Mr. Card and his 3D rendering to ask the School Board to consider going forward with the Duvall Street site.
“You have to start with a vision, and I really give Jay credit for that,” Ms. Gabor said. “Raise the money, write the grants and try to get this built.”
Mr. Card said, “The school would like a clear separation between the fitness facility and the school property. That’s their main motivation.”
He also cited the possibility of a swim team, and a place for after-school activities as aspects of a fitness center that would be attractive to school district officials.
If the school turns thumbs up to the Duvall Street site, Mr. Card said, then the committee could go ahead with a feasibility study, already partially funded by the Senior Foundation, as well as a use-survey of the community.
