Future of Cruiser Club unknown
SPARTA Once again, the Cruiser Club of Lake Mohawk is up for grabs. But its anybodys guess as to who the new owners will be and the future use of the swim club. Dating back to 1937, the five-acre property on the south end of Lake Mohawk has been the summer playground for many residents of the area. It is one of the few places in New Jersey that has an Olympic sized swimming pool where swim lessons, training and competitions take place. Tennis is also part of the club. In its heyday, it was quite the social scene and often difficult to get a lounge chair at the pool. Trying to save it But all of that has seemed to change in the past ten years. With a mix of different owners coming through and a reluctant audience, the Cruiser Club is once again in a limbo state. It is apparently in the hands of Sussex Bank, but is not confirmed whether it was foreclosed upon the most recent owner Mike Clark. Prior to Clark purchasing it, Justin Williams bought it from the Miner family in 2006. Williams had grown up there swimming competitively his whole life. It became a dream of his to save the Cruiser Club and make it work. He sank money into the repair of the pool by fixing its filtration system. He offered different types of memberships making joining more flexible, but he alienated existing members who disapproved. He ran into the start of a bad economy and after a few seasons, sold it to Clark. Clark also had an attachment to the history of the club and memories of going there as a child. Upon his purchase of it in May of 2010, Clark poured a lot of his own money into physical changes like refurbishing the tennis courts, landscaping, new pool furniture and renovations of the bathrooms. The place looked vibrant and certainly had a new feel. He thought his years of working for billion dollar companies would give him the ammunition he needed to run a financially sound operation. But two years later, the same problems of non-profitability seem to exist. Although Clark could not be reached for comment, he did send out an email to his membership base months ago stating that due to financial reasons he would not be opening the club for the summer 2012 season, and that the property was for sale if anyone knew interested parties. Most recently there has been a campaign to save the Cruiser Club by Mary Warden, who looked to gather moral support to purchase it avoiding a bank sale to the highest bidder who may develop the property into something other than a swim club. Seeped in memory for many Warden, now in her mid-40s, grew up in Sparta and has been a part of the Cruiser Club since she was six. As a teenager, she worked at the front desk and the snack shop. After a brief hiatus away at college, she returned to the Cruiser Club as a member now taking her own children there. For my family, the Cruiser Club has always been a part of my summers. Not only for the recreation, but for the memories which made it such a special facility, said Warden. Because Wards children are older now, she is physically removed from the Cruiser Club these days, but her fondness of the place and concern for future generations is apparent. She contacted Clark to assess the situation. Mike invited me to speak to the bank. I just thought it was worth going the extra mile, so I talked to the bank about my interest in buying it. And I found out that there are two other potential buyers who werent going to operate it as the Cruiser Club. Many others want to see it saved This scenario unfolded mid-April. After her initial meeting with Sussex Bank, Warden reached out to the existing membership to poll how many people would be willing to pay for a possible increase in membership dues to keep the place afloat. It is a huge undertaking running an Olympic-sized pool. One buyer after another has looked at the purchase price without looking at what it takes to make it profitable, she said. I am just exploring ownership and wanted to see how many people would commit to making this work. With over 700 email responses, Warden now knows people felt passionate about the club like she did. Rather than lose it, they were coming up with ideas to make it work. I received an outrageous number of responses from people who value it, said Clark. Although there were rumored to be as many as four potential buyers some with cash and some not having any swim club future in mind, nothing can be confirmed. To date, Warden has met with Sussex Bank as recently as May 3 and believes that they have signed a contract with a buyer for purchase of the property, but nothing has been confirmed. And it looks as though Warden may have given up the good fight. I appreciate Justin Williams and Mike Clarke now more than ever for having kept the Cruiser Club operating for our community as long as they were able. I dont know how this is going to end at this point, I do not know what is the future of the Cruiser Club.