🏊‍♂️ SPSTC Renovation Project

Building the Future of Our Club — Together

Welcome to the renovation hub for South Park Swim and Tennis Club!
Over the course of this past swim season, our community has come together to plan an exciting transformation of our facilities — with a renewed focus on safety, sustainability, and the member experience.

This page will keep members updated as we move from planning to construction and, finally, to reopening our improved club.

🧱 Our Vision

We’re investing in the future of our swim club — improving our bathhouse, enhancing accessibility, and creating spaces that support families year round.

Our goal: to preserve the club’s charm while upgrading the infrastructure for decades to come.

🗓️ Project Timeline: A Summer of Progress

• Formed a Renovation Committee consisting of 14 members who developed a shared vision through two planning exercises.
• Met with three commercial contractors and project managers from Barringer, Swinerton, and Andrew Roby, including an initial site visit.
• Welcomed three design firms — Ossa Studio and Peadon/Finein, and C Design — for site evaluations.
• Consulted with C Design and reviewed pre-design costs and fee structures from similar swim club projects.
• Reached out to peer pools for insights into their own renovation experiences.  We continue to keep in touch with other boards for guidance.
• Signed a Contract with C Design for Conceptual Plans Here is the Contract.

Fall Updates

• Annual Meeting -The meeting was held on September 9th, during which we provided an opportunity for questions and discussion regarding the identified issues, including the historical decision-making and the current state of disrepair.

• Town Hall – Architect Dean McKenzie and his associate from C Design joined us to walk through the design process, how we’ll engage a commercial contractor, and listened to your feedback.  This was an opportunity to shape what our future facility looks and feels like. C Design asked: What do you hope to see? What do we need—or not need? What concerns or ideas do you want to share?

•  Here are the Minutes with pictures showcasing the participation

• • Here are the slides presented by the pre-design team

What’s Happening Right Now?

• • October 17th, C Design and Renovation Representatives meet with Mecklenburg County Melonee Brock to discuss flood plain requirements
    • Here are the minutes from the Floodplain Meeting
  • October 24th, C Design and Renovation Representatives meet with the City of Charlotte for a Pre-Sumittal Meeting. Here are the meeting minutes.  This included Pond and Company, City of Charlotte – Admin Team, Urban Forestry, Stormwater, Charlotte Water, Commercial Zoning, CDOT, City Fire, and Charlotte Water.
  • On November 5th, C Design and Renovation Representatives met with this group again for another pre-submittal meeting.  Pond & Company has completed the Site Due Diligence package. The Site Due Diligence, Site Investigation Summary, and Conceptual Site Plan are attached. Here are the meeting minutes with the presentation included. C Design is in the process of reaching out to structural consultants about a potential assessment/ design for any option involving dry floodproofing. 
    • Site investigation Summary.
    • Site Due Diligence Summary.
    • Conceptual site plans.
    • Nov. 5 Meeting Presentation, please reference minutes for context.

• November 25th a meeting to discuss next steps in the design process included: needs for a wetlands survey, structural narrative, and cost estimator.  

• • • Nov. 25 Meeting Minutes
  • December 3rd a meeting to discuss the preliminary designs was held, and edits are expected soon.
    • Dec. 3rd Meeting Minutes
    • Bathroom/Reno Committee Meeting Minutes

• December 9th, board approved a Wetlands SWIM buffer survey from POND.

• December 15th edits were made to the design given committee feedback.

• • • Early Designs Based on Committee Feedback

• January 6 wetlands engineers survey our property for the SWIM

• Meredith Begins A Video Series to help members understand our barriers.  Watch Here!

Where Things Stand

We are currently limited to the following FEMA-compliant options as it relates to the bathhouse, specifically:

• Keep renovations under $150,000 
• Build a new floodproof structure at grade

SWIM Buffer Requirements

There is a possible path to build within the SWIM buffer, but it requires:

• Proving there is no reasonable alternative outside the buffer 
• Demonstrating minimized impact 
• Submitting to a full County review process 
• Potential mitigation (stormwater system installation or $10/sf mitigation fee) 

Approval is possible but not guaranteed.

Stormwater Management Constraints

The site has a 5,000 sq ft built-upon area (BUA) threshold. If exceeded, significant stormwater requirements are triggered (detention pond or underground system—potentially several hundred thousand dollars).

Our recent design concepts approach or exceed this threshold. To avoid triggering costly stormwater infrastructure:

• New covered pavilion space would likely need to be reduced 
• Future expansion flexibility may be limited 

THE GOOD NEWS: maintenance replacement of existing features (like tennis courts) will not count toward BUA, provided there is no major grade change.

Moving Forward

While this is not the path we hoped for, we are not giving up. Our focus now is making meaningful facility improvements within regulatory and budget constraints.

We appreciate your patience, support, and engagement as we determine next steps.

📣 Stay Involved

We’re committed to transparency and collaboration.

• Check back here for updates, renderings, and construction timelines.
• Attend upcoming member meetings for Q&A and progress reports.
• Send feedback to: reno@southparkstc.com

🏗️ Looking Ahead

Every step of this journey reflects our shared commitment to keeping SPSTC a place where generations come to swim, connect, and grow.
Together, we’re building something extraordinary.