Community, Commitment, and Cannonballs: Inside Tenafly’s New Municipal Pool Comeback

In lieu of the closure of the Tenakill Swim Club in the summer of 2024, Mayor Mark Zinna announced in December of last year that its Grove Street property will be converted into a new Municipal Pool. Excitingly, it’s expected to open this Memorial Weekend, which is in just a few weeks! Over 200 families have already signed up for memberships, with many more eagerly waiting for the revival of one of Tenafly’s beloved community experiences. Tenafly’s last pool is finally here, and hopefully, to stay. 

Such a large-scale project was conducted in just a few months and on short notice, a source of pride and accomplishment for Tenafly. How exactly it propped up what seemed to be a dying swim club into a much-expected crown jewel among Tenafly’s recreation facilities involved hard work and sacrifice on the behalf of dozens of Borough officials, volunteers, and community members. To find out how Tenafly put together a comprehensive, municipally funded pool in such a short period of time, I talked to Councilman Dan Park. 

Mr. Park grew up in Tenafly and attended elementary to high school in the district, from which he went to Rutgers in Newark. He’s been on the Council since 2013, a few years after returning to Tenafly, and has since been one of our most vocal supporters of recreational and community spaces. As the Council’s liaison to the Municipal Pool Committee, he’s in a unique position to talk about the behind-the-scenes process in which Tenafly revitalized its last and most cherished pool. 

So which property is the Municipal Swimming Pool being built on, and how did the Borough acquire it? The town actually owns both the high school parking lot, which it leases to the Tenafly High School, and the old swim club property at 165 Grove Street, which was leased out to a non-profit. That non-profit ran the Tenakill Swim Club until it decided to close down the business last summer, returning the land to the Borough. 

Mr. Park says that the decision to bring back the closing pool happened quickly. “Once the nonprofit pulled out last summer, we all agreed we had to step in. The only real concern was preparing financially.” 

And financially prepared they were, to an extent. What makes the pool different from other recreational projects is its membership fees, making it self-liquidating. Unlike a free-to-use skate park or pickleball court, memberships can recover much of the cost. 

The use of an Open Space Trust Fund (OSTF) helped greatly as well. Mr. Park described it as a “designated piggy bank,” which can only be used for recreation, historic preservation, or buying land for open space, funded by a very small portion of property taxes. Importantly, it’s separate from the town’s regular tax revenue, meaning that its saved funds can be used for projects without affecting tax rates. “About $150,000 came from the Open Space Trust Fund, and another $100,000 came from our capital budget.” The $100,000 of the capital budget accounted for restrictions like paint jobs, sanding, and general upkeep, due to certain restrictions around what Open Space funds can be used for. 

Moreover, community advocates gathered support, organized pricing research, and according to Mr. Park got 200 families to sign up before the deadline. He notes that “That early commitment made the financial risk more manageable.”

Speaking of community advocates, their role in the Municipal Pool’s revitalization was absolutely central. At the first council meeting following the nonprofit’s announcement that the Tenakill Pool was closing, they showed up and made strong cases for why the pool needed to stay open: for swim lessons, socializing, and general quality of life. “It was a grassroots campaign,” Mr. Park claims. “and it worked.” They spearheaded the push for a pool committee, featuring Mr. Park, the Mayor, Recreation Director Jamie Cannon, and three residents, which oversaw weekly meetings, designed flyers, sent out emails, and spread the word of the new Municipal Pool’s expected opening via social media, newsletters, and local events. 

The first year, according to Mr. Park, is critical. Tenafly’s own worst enemy is itself, in that so many people go away for the summer. Importantly, the job of the Municipal Pool is now to “offer great programming, events, and amenities that make residents want to stay and use the pool,” which, done right, will make the facility “sustainable.”

Despite what you may think, one of the biggest groups that visits Tenafly’s pools during the summer isn’t actually from Tenafly. There’s a huge membership group from across the bridge in places like Washington Heights, in NYC. They drive down to Tenafly and stay for some time to use the pool and enjoy our downtown. Having a publicly available and well-maintained pool helps boost revenue and is good for local businesses, a trend that Mr. Park hopes will continue. 

Evidently, there’s a lot that needed to be considered during the pool’s planning, but funding was seen as a primary issue. Given a short notice by the nonprofit which ran the Tenakill Swim Club, the Borough had to scramble to ensure adequate funding for a whole new community project, while others were still ongoing. However, due to the dedication and tireless efforts of volunteers, community members, and Borough committee members, the pool’s revitalization was seen through, in only a matter of months. Having a central point in Tenafly’s community, recreational department, and local business restored and remodeled is an amazing development for our town and gives the community a great space to gather and spend time together. Be sure to check out the new Municipal Swimming pool, fit with a dog park, skate park, and community garden after its opening this Memorial Day weekend, at 165 Grove Street!