In November, one of Cherry Hill’s oldest swim clubs was served a notice of intent to foreclose. For more than 60 years, Kingston Estates Swim Club has served the surrounding community providing a cool reprieve for families on a hot summer day, and the nonprofit facility isn’t ready to see that tradition come to an end.
With summer just around the corner, the club is attempting to prove to TD Bank that it can afford to keep Kingston’s doors open. As of November, the club owed more than $400,000 to the bank. Bob Scott, president of Kingston’s board of directors, said the club is working with TD’s attorneys to extend their filing deadline, and the club is on a campaign to generate new memberships before it opens its doors on Memorial Day weekend.
Scott said they’re happy to report that TD has been eager to give Kingston an opportunity to retain ownership of the facility. He said on their end, they were asked to demonstrate that they can raise funds and generate new memberships.
The club’s employed a number of strategies to garner community interest. In February, it launched a GoFundMe page and set a goal to raise $10,000. To date, the page has raised around $2,000.
More recently, the club held an adults-only beef and beer fundraiser on April 13 at Resurrection School Catholic Cafeteria in Cherry Hill. Scott said while the event was a fundraiser, it was also very much an important step in its awareness campaign. Scott said they reached out to old members whose kids may be grown now, and at the fundraiser, they saw many of these past members join back up.
The club also hosted another fundraiser open to kids on April 19 at The Big Event Bowling Alley in Cherry Hill. The night featured two hours of bowling, pizza and an array of family fun activities.
Scott said, as of now, TD has not given the club an exact number that it needs to raise. He said the bank wants them to show that they’re headed in the right direction.
Scott’s family joined Kingston around six years ago. He said with 13 swim clubs in the township, membership fluctuates cyclically. When his family joined Kingston, there were other clubs in the area that were hurting.
He attributes some of their membership attrition to changing demographics. He said children grow up, go away to college, and families’ memberships drop off. With fewer children in the surrounding neighborhoods now, they’ve seen less children coming to the club during the day.
Bob Mangels has been a member with the club for 60 years. The club opened in 1956, and Mangels joined in 1959. In his eyes, the membership dropoff is a byproduct of the times. He said when Kingston first opened, stay-at-home moms brought their children to the pool during the day. He said the club offered their children a place to have fun and an opportunity for them to get out of the house and socialize.
He said today, working mothers are sending their children to day camps and activities where they can be supervised all day. He said swim clubs are also often an added expense that some families may not prioritize.
For Mangels, the club has always proven a welcoming atmosphere. He said he brought his family each summer, and it was a great place for his kids to get in some physical activity while they all made new friends.
It’s the family feel that has kept Kingston’s board fighting for the club’s survival. Scott said the grounds are beautiful, and parents can rest assured that their children are safe at Kingston.
“That’s why it’s been around so long, but sometimes you need to shake it up and bring it back to re-engage everybody,” Scott said.
As the season gets underway, the club will be taking a further look at what its plans are moving forward, Scott said.
To donate to Kingston’s GoFundMe page. Visit www.gofundme.com and search Kingston Estates Swim Club. For more information on the club, visit https://www.kingstonswimclub.com.
