Those That Have Come And Gone

At least 65 Pennsylvania pools have closed since 2009. [cited] Let’s take a look at nine of them formerly located in or around the Monroeville area: 

1. Beau-Clair (Penn Township/Clairidge) - dates unknown - can you help?
2. Bel-Aire (Monroeville) - 1972-2019
3. Eastgate Manor (Monroeville) - 1958-2002
4. Eastmont (Wilkins Twp) - 1961-1994
5. Foxwood (Monroeville) - 1969-2017
6. Highlands (Penn Hills) - 1962-2017
7. Holiday Hills (Plum) - dates unknown - can you help?
8. Penn Aqua (Penn Hills) - 1961-2008
9. Plum Aqua (Plum) - 1964-2017

These nine swim clubs were thriving in the 1980s. Six of them were still thriving in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, four of them were still going strong. And today, all nine are closed and in fact, only two have physical evidence of their prior existence. If I missed one, I am sorry…I ran out of fingers when counting and needed at least one to type!

• With the exception of one, the clubs listed above were all private, membership-run, community pools…like Gateway Heights. 
• With the exception of one, the clubs listed above owned taxable land, buildings and infrastructure…like Gateway Heights.
• With the exception of one, the clubs listed above relied on memberships to pay the bills and volunteers to keep the organization and facility going and growing…like Gateway Heights.

​Fact: Because I am a bit lazy when it comes to typing, wherever you see “GHC,” that refers to Gateway Heights Club, Inc., the legal incorporated name for Gateway Heights Swim Club. 
 
Throughout the rest of the article, I will share some tidbits of information about each of these pools, where I can. It is really important to recognize that each of these pools were in high demand at one point or another in their history. They were great places to swim in the summer time. Each of them ran a swim team in the Eastern Swim Association (ESA), the league in which the GH Gators participate. All of them are gone now. It can happen so quickly and easily. ​